


No easy way out.

by ashkore_varg



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Rocky Balboa Movies!AU, do not copy to another site, idiots to lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 10:17:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22496431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashkore_varg/pseuds/ashkore_varg
Summary: Longshoreman by day, boxer by night, Zoro dreams of becoming the heavyweights world champion, while struggling with money and living in a small apartment with his roommate and best friend, Nami. When he meets Sanji, a very unreasonable client of the company Zoro works for, the last thing he wants is to fall for him. But how hard is it going to be, to be a fierce and fearless boxer when you've got something to lose?
Relationships: Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Portgas D. Ace, Koala/Sabo (One Piece), Roronoa Zoro/Vinsmoke Sanji, gonna add more as the chapters go by so that you won't be too spoilered
Comments: 97
Kudos: 188





	1. Delivery

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, I hope you're all doing great!  
So! You can't even imagine for how long I've had this plot laying around... Probably for over a year! I'm quite excited for this story, especially because the Rocky Balboa series is something I've literally grew up with and that I'm very fond of, flaws and all. With quite some tweaking I've come up with this story that I hope you guys are going to enjoy as much as I'm enjoying writing it!
> 
> I'm not gonna lie about how nervous I am about posting this, but here I go. I'm gonna let the first chapter do the talking!

The sun emerged from the ocean, deep blue water brightened by pale oranges. The sky tinted with shades of pink and yellow, the few clouds lit up with the awakening sunshine. Every shade merged together, giving birth to different hues of purple and red, the kind of color that was spread right underneath Zoro's left eye.

A sudden harsh gust of wind claimed the young man back to reality, as he paced down pier number seven, and the cawing of seagulls and cormorants was drowned by the shouting of the longshoremen. The sharp odor of fish penetrated his nostrils, making him scrunch his face. It didn't last for too long throughout the working hours, Zoro could get used to it in a handful of minutes, by now.

“The hell happened to that mug of yours, Roronoa?”

Zoro focused his gaze on the man glaring at him, arms folded across his chest, cigar firmly tucked between his teeth. Zoro still wondered why the hell he always had a ridiculously big pair of orange goggles perched up on his forehead if he never actually wore them.

“Ran into a door.” Zoro tugged his black, wool beanie further down on his head to cover his ears.

“Yeah, right.” the supervisor took a drag of smoke, then plucked the cigar out of his mouth “If you can't keep up with the others I'll throw your ass right into the ocean.”

Paulie could be a damn pain in the ass when he wanted, but Zoro couldn't really blame him. He needed his longshoremen to actually be able to do their job of unloading tons and tons of goods off of the docked ships. He wasn't supposed to get too injured if he wanted to keep the job, though it wasn't a dream position it helped to pay the bills. And God only knew how badly he needed the cash.

“I'm perfect, Paulie, no need to get your panties in a bunch.” Zoro shrugged, hands burrowed into the pockets of his military green anorak.

“You better be,” Paulie jabbed a threatening finger in his direction.

“Hey, bro!”

“Hey, brother!”

The unison greetings came just on time to irritate Paulie and make him turn on his heels as he rolled his eyes, and stomped back off to supervise the other workers.

“You were incredible, last night!” Johnny commented as he pushed his sunglasses further up the bridge of his nose.

Another thing that Zoro didn't get, why the hell did the man constantly wear sunglasses, even when the sun was barely out? Some questions were better off staying unanswered, that was what he kept telling himself.

“Incredible? Incredible doesn't even begin to--” Yosaku was just about to gush about Zoro very loudly, but the man cut him off with a grunt.

“You guys need to shut your faces,” Zoro growled lowly as he looked over the men's shoulders just enough to see Paulie glaring at him from a distance. “Paulie will fire my ass if you keep shouting about last night and you know it.” his tone was harsh and threatening, and he could almost see his friends turn blue.

“You're right, bro. We're such idiots!” Yosaku shook his head, a flush spreading from his cheeks up to his half covered ears.

“We'll keep our traps shut, we promise!” Johnny sort of echoed, right after Yosaku's words.

They were always so synchronized, it was nearly comical. They sounded like a comedian duo, or a pair coming straight out of a movie.

Zoro sighed. They were good guys, but could get sort of overwhelming at times.

“Let's just get to work, yeah?” Zoro's wasn't really a question, so he didn't wait for an answer, he just walked off in the direction of the back of a ship.

He wore a pair of working gloves as he stepped across the ramp that lead to the inside of the ship, so that he could start loading crates full of fish onto a forklift. His movements were precise and almost automatic, he worked like a robot, it wasn't exactly a job that required hard thinking or concentration, just strong arms, quick legs and a solid back. Zoro had those alright, he ran five miles every morning and could dislodge a punching bag from its hook with a series of strong jabs.

He couldn't put any sort of passion into his job because he didn't belong on the piers among stinky, slimy crates, Zoro belonged on a ring. So as he lifted crate after crate, his mind wandered to the night before, replaying the match punch by punch, dodge by dodge.

Zoro was a small club fighter, unrefined and a little rough around the edges, he trained himself every morning and evening because he didn't have enough money to afford a professional trainer, but did indulge into training at the local gym when he had a little extra cash. He had a corner in his room with a punching bag, a few weights and a skipping rope, and made that into his personal gym - much to his roommate's displease. 

Zoro dreamed of the big fights, of earning his shot at becoming the world champion of the heavyweights, fully aware of how long and bumpy the road ahead was going to be. He was great at fighting though, he'd made a name for himself amongst the amateurs for being pretty much undefeated and for never having gotten his nose broken by an opponent. 

He needed the right opportunity, maybe somebody to help him refine his form and technique, but then he could--

“Roronoa!”

Paulie interrupted his musings once again, making his eyebrows draw together as he stacked a crate over another, he clapped his gloved hands together then nodded in his boss’ direction.

“What is it?” Zoro asked, he saw Johnny and Yosaku slow their own process down in order to eavesdrop, out of the corner of his eye.

“We’re understaffed these days, and one of our delivery guys broke his leg or something--” Paulie explained gruffly, around his cigar.

Zoro was starting to get his suspicions as to where this was going, and he wasn’t particularly keen. He might have not loved his job, but it was what he did on a daily and it was the right amount of responsibilities, he didn’t want more.

“You need to take over for him, the deliveries are starting in twenty minutes, you gotta cover area number 3 of the city.” Paulie wasn’t asking, he was clearly demanding and not leaving much of a choice.

“I don’t do deliveries, I’m a--” Zoro began to protest, but was quickly interrupted by his supervisor.

“You get extra money for the day.” 

“I’ll do it.” Zoro would have truly wanted to refuse, but money was constantly tight and rent was due by the end of the week. 

Not to mention he already owed his roommate an extra sum for having paid his part of the rent the previous month in advance. He couldn’t afford to refuse any chance of getting paid more, no matter what.

“Alright, leave these.” Paulie jerked his chin in the direction of the crates, then looked over Zoro’s shoulder, to where Johnny and Yosaku stood. “You two, take over for him.”

“Oh, sure boss!” Johnny said as he scrambled towards Zoro.

“No problem, chief!” Yosaku saluted Paulie, then joined Johnny.

Zoro knew they were probably going to ask what was going on, but he didn’t have time to lose, so he quickly muttered that he was going to text them in the afternoon and followed Paulie to one of the trucks that was just being loaded with the last couple crates of fish.

“Alright, this is the list,” Paulie said as he handed Zoro a sheet of paper, sticky with blood and slime “you got the names of the restaurants and the addresses. The truck’s got GPS so you just punch the address in and you’re good to go.”

Zoro shuddered slightly at the thought of having to drive around the city and make it to any stop on time, but still he grumbled an _ ‘alright’ _and Paulie clapped him on the back. He climbed up into the driver’s seat and started reading through the list of restaurants, he took off one of his gloves to type the first address in, backed the truck into the street and prayed that he wasn’t going to end up on the other side of the country.

Zoro had absolutely no sense of direction whatsoever, nor did he have any sort of photographic memory when it came to streets or points of reference. He didn’t drive around much, he could barely afford to pay for car insurance or gas, and frankly he could always use the workout provided by walking around pretty much everywhere.

So having to drive a huge truck on a schedule wasn’t exactly something that Zoro was particularly going to enjoy.

He realized halfway to the first restaurant that he’d selected the wrong address, so he had to make a stop to reset his course and, after a colorful string of curses, he managed to make his first stop and delivery. All the crates were properly labeled and stacked following the order of the stops he was going to have to make, so at least he didn’t have to go insane just to pick the right goods to unload.

When he wasn’t punching in the wrong address, he was definitely taking the wrong routes, or making the wrong turns, running into traffic or just generally getting later and later to all of the restaurants. 

He was never nervous or stressed, well only when he was broke and didn’t have money to pay for his half of the expenses, but generally his roommate would always have his back, no matter what. But fuck, was this morning stressing the shit out of him, he could have crumbled underneath all the pressure he was being crushed by.

Still he pushed through, even if he had to apologize with a grumble and a full face blush to the restaurant owners, but generally everyone had been more or less sympathetic towards him. That wasn’t his job, after all, and he was trying his best.

“Just one more to go…” Zoro sighed as he climbed back behind the wheel and looked at the list “Baratie, 36 Sambas Road. "

“Sambas Road…” Zoro furrowed his eyebrows as he repeated the name of the street to himself, as if he had already heard it but couldn’t quite recall why.

He just shrugged his shoulders, not deeming it important, then typed in 63 instead, but didn't notice until after being at least forty-five minutes late, he could only find a laundromat instead of a seafood restaurant. Only then he realized he'd written the wrong street number, and cursed loudly at the GPS and the stupid streets for being so confusing, until he stopped by the back of the restaurant. 

“Fuckin' stupid little computers or whatever,” Zoro muttered as he flung the door of the truck shut and moved to open those on the back to start unloading the crates “Sorry I'm late, I don't usually make deliveries and the traffic was--” 

“Thought you'd fucking died.” the voice behind him said dry. 

Zoro stiffened, eyebrows furrowing as he rounded to face a tall, blond guy glaring at him like he'd murdered his entire family. He was dressed sharply in a suit, he didn't look too threatening but his stance was definitely unfriendly. 

“As I said, I'm sorry about the delay.” Zoro repeated.

“You being sorry doesn't make up for the time you wasted,” the guy unplucked the cigarette he held between his lips and exhaled a harsh string of smoke “we're already late on our lunch schedule because of you.” 

Zoro definitely didn't feel like arguing, but this posh bastard was absolutely getting on his nerves. That was exactly why he didn't want to do deliveries, he knew he'd have to face jerks like this one. 

“Sorry, I did my best with traffic and everything else--” Zoro tried to explain, but was cut off again. 

“There's traffic every single morning, Gin's never late. He makes his deliveries on fucking time.” the blond tapped a finger on the watch wrapped around his left wrist. 

“Well Gin broke his fucking leg or something, and I was the only one who could replace his ass.” Zoro spat back. 

The blond clearly wasn't expecting the harsh reply so he was left stunned for a moment, before he could even try to open his mouth to argue back. 

“Aren't we wasting more time arguing? Let me unload your stuff, so I can leave you to your lunch schedule.” Zoro went on, then turned his back on the guy to unlock the doors and grab the crates. 

That was the first and last time he was going to do that. Fuck the extra money. 

“You're a rude bastard, your colleague is professional at least.” the blond scoffed. 

Zoro ignored him, or else he was going to have to deck the dude, and that was definitely going to cost him his job. He kept on unloading the crates, and not listening to the snarky remarks of the blond. 

“What's with the black eye? A previous customer punched you for being late?” 

Zoro truly had to fight against the urge to rearrange the guy's features with his bare hands, and only focus on his task, mechanically just like he did down at the docks. 

A couple cooks came out a few moments afterwards and started bringing the fish inside the kitchen. 

“Can't you give us a hand, Sanji?” one of the smaller men asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice “Scared of ruining your new suit?” 

“Shut your damn mouth, Carne. I'm the sous-chef, and I'm supervising today.” the blond retorted. 

“Right, right. Wouldn't want you to get fish slime all over your nice jacket.” the other cook went on, making the others laugh. 

“Shut up!” 

Zoro tried to bite back a smirk at that, then locked up the doors once the last crate had been unloaded. 

“Dunno if we can manage to make the soup on time, today.” another one of the cooks commented, as he brought one of the crates inside. 

“Thank our new friend here, for that.” Sanji said, jutting his chin dismissively in Zoro's direction. 

Zoro's fists twitched, but he kept them by his sides and got back inside the truck without saying a word, still he caught another one of those lovely comments from the blond about him being ill mannered and unfit for the job. 

He sped off with a screech of tires, obviously going in the opposite way he was supposed to take to drive back to the docks, but he couldn't care less. He was overloaded with frustration and anger, he knew he'd been late but there was no reason for that guy to be such an asshole. 

Paulie was going to have to find a different person for this job, he wasn't going to let that posh bastard walk all over him ever again. He'd make the extra money with some club fights, he was going to drop by a few later, so that he could see if there were any flyers up. 

Once he got back to the docks and stepped out of the truck, Paulie was there to meet him with a scowl. 

“Wanna bite my head off, too?” Zoro grunted. 

“Well, you're late as fuck.” Paulie commented “The fuck happened?” 

“Traffic. And rude ass customers.” Zoro said as he handed Paulie the keys to the truck. 

“Chefs…” Paulie snorted. 

“And sous-chefs.” Zoro absentmindedly added with a grumble. 

“What's that?” Paulie asked with a quirk of his brow. 

“Nothing.” Zoro shook his head, already knowing what face he was going to imagine later during his punching bag training. 

“Whatever. Here's your money. I'll see you tomorrow.” Paulie said before putting a bunch of bills in Zoro's hand and walking back into his prefab office. 

Zoro looked down at the bills in his hand with a scowl and realized that he'd earned almost double his usual money. His heart skipped a beat at the realization, he took a look around to make sure nobody had seen the exchange, as if he’d stolen the money he’d just regularly earned, then shoved it deep into the pockets of his anorak.

He decided to jog back home, especially since the sky had started darkening up and the last thing he needed after such a morning, was definitely to be soaked in rain. 

But of course he got lost.

And of course it started pouring.

Zoro was completely drenched when he stepped into the house, dripping water all over the carpet and earning a horrified shout from the girl that was sitting on the couch facing the entrance, surrounded by papers and books.

“Don’t start yelling at me, I’ve had a shit day!” Zoro barked right back at her.

“I mopped the fucking floor this morning!” the girl growled back at him, a long strand of ginger hair falling from the bun she was keeping it tied in.

“It’s fucking storming out there, Nami!” Zoro groaned, gesturing to the window.

“Whatever, you’re drying it up.” Nami shook her head and went back to the book sitting in her lap. “I got an exam in two days, you know that.”

Zoro gritted his teeth as if he was debating giving away what he'd earned so quickly, still he grabbed most of the money sitting into his pocket and placed it between the pages that Nami was studying off of. It was the right thing to do, after all. 

“This should cover what I owed you, tomorrow I should have my half of the rent.” Zoro muttered as he peeled his jacket off of his shoulders and went to hang it up together with his soaked beanie.

Nami didn’t say anything in return for a while. Zoro knew she was probably way too taken aback from the money that had just fallen quite literally into her lap, or perhaps she was feeling bad for having lashed out at him. Zoro knew she was stressing over her exam, but she was a nightmare to deal with every time she was getting ready for one.

“Yeah, don’t--” Nami sighed “Don’t worry, I know you’re having money issues again.”

Zoro muttered something unintelligible. He hated being pitied, even if he knew she wasn't exactly doing so. He just wished his wallet wasn't constantly empty at twenty five years old - he wished he could be like other successful people his age, but nothing had ever been easy for him. 

She lifted her gaze on him again, and her eyebrows knitted together “You should put some ice on that eye, you know?”

“Yeah… I’m gonna do that.” Zoro nodded and walked over to the small kitchen to grab a bag of frozen peas or whatever he could find first.

The bruise hadn’t actually started hurting until the moment Nami had mentioned it, probably because he’d been otherwise engaged the whole time. His stress and anger levels were definitely higher than the pain, and it wasn’t like it was his first time getting a black eye in a fight, but he figured adrenaline had completely drained from him and made his eye hurt.

Zoro was just picking up a bag of frozen spinach from out of the freezer, when the doorbell rang and Nami shouted for him to get the door.

As if she wasn’t sitting a few feet across from it.

Zoro let out a drawn out sigh, shook his head and went to get the door.

“Hellooooooooo!” 

A boyish face greeted Zoro with an enormous grin painted on his lips, and two other familiar, more adult faces smirked at him as all three guys held up takeout bags filled with Chinese food.

“Hey guys!”

“We brought lunch!”

All of a sudden, Zoro was feeling much better. The steel ball of anxiety lodged right between his chest and stomach dissolved as soon as Luffy, Ace and Sabo stepped into his and Nami’s apartment. The three brothers lived in the apartment right across from theirs, but almost spent more time with them that in their own house.

Zoro and Nami didn’t mind though, they were actually their best friends and quite often brought food with them, so it was always a pleasure to have them around. Especially in a day like the one that Zoro had just had.

“You look like shit, man.” Ace frowned over at him, fingers carding through his own jet black hair as he stepped inside the house.

Zoro rolled his eyes at the lovely compliment, but grinned when Luffy wrapped an arm around his neck to stamp a kiss on his cheek.

Luffy was the youngest of the three - being Ace and Sabo a pair of fraternal twins - and Zoro had a soft spot for him, almost as if he were his younger brother as well. 

“He’s had a rough morning.” Nami said before Zoro could reply, a sympathetic smile curving her lips.

“Lay it on us, dude.” Sabo said as he shut the door and moved to place the bag he was holding on the coffee table.

“While we’re eating, though! I’m starving!” Luffy chimed in.

“Obviously.” Zoro smirked. 

Luffy was always hungry. Literally at all times. He ate as much as three people would, yet always stayed thin and toned thanks to his lightning fast metabolism. 

“Alright then, I could definitely use a break.” Nami stretched out, closed the book she still had in her lap, and began to collect all of her things.

“I’ll help you.” Ace offered with a smile.

“Oh, thanks!” Nami grinned at him as she put her reading glasses away. 

“We’ll set up the table!” Sabo said as he shoved Luffy in the direction of the kitchen.

“I’ll take a quick shower, then.” Zoro said, absentmindedly bringing the forgotten bag of spinach with him.

“You’re bringing a snack?” Ace asked, arching an eyebrow.

Zoro was way too used to Ace’s flirtatious nature, but he definitely wasn’t in the mood for his little games. 

“Ace, you--” Zoro scowled, then looked down at the bag and understood what he actually meant.

The brunet started laughing, and Zoro flung the bag at his face before disappearing into his bedroom to grab a change of clothes.

Zoro could still hear the chatting and laughter coming from the kitchen, he might not have had much money but he was glad for the people in his life. His chosen family, as he liked to call the motley crew that he could see scattered around the kitchen table, on his way to the bathroom. 

Zoro smirked softly as he caught a glimpse of Luffy stealing food from one of the takeout bags, and Nami slapping his hand away with a half-shouted reprimand. He had been so lost in his own terrible mood that he was only now noticing the cold that was making him shiver uncontrollably, so he quickly ducked inside the bathroom to shimmy out of his wet clothes and finally step underneath the warm spray of the shower.

He couldn't help but think back to the hellish morning he'd gone through. Driving around the city through traffic while being awfully directionally challenged was probably the worst job he could have been given, not to mention the posh bastard that he had to face at the end of his shift.

Zoro certainly wasn't going to forget that stupid face of his. He angrily started lathering up his hair as he recalled the entirety of the idiotic argument they'd had - what a jerk! Zoro knew he had been far from punctual, but he had also apologized for the delay, yet Sanji--

Wait a minute, how did he remember his name? He wasn't good with new names, usually. 

Well, that definitely had to be because of how much of an asshole they guy had been, with his stuck-up attitude and the ridiculous dark blue suit. Even his colleagues had made fun of him.

Posh bastard with the custom tailored suit and the shittiest attitude ever. 

Zoro had to wonder how many customers they actually got per day, if the sous-chef was such a cunt... They probably had very good servers to make up for that, or else nobody would want to eat a meal in there.

He didn't even realize for how long he'd been rubbing at his hair while ruminating over his morning, but it definitely had to be a while because all of a sudden there was banging on the bathroom door.

“Zoro, you still alive?” Luffy's voice filtered through the wood.

“Yeah, yeah!” Zoro grumbled as he rinsed his hair out.

“Are you jerking off?” Luffy went on, more candidly than it should be allowed.

All of Zoro's blood suddenly rushed up to his face, embarrassment flooding him.

“Shut the fuck up! I'm not!” Zoro growled.

“Just askin’! You’re all so obsessed with it--” 

“Fuck off!!” 

As if he'd tell him, if he were!

Zoro quickly finished washing the rest of his body, then turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. There was still a deep flush to his cheeks and chest, but Zoro blamed it on the high temperature of the water and definitely not on Luffy's stupid question.

He toweled himself dry, pulled on the poorly folded clothes he'd brought along and left the bathroom to finally join the others in the kitchen.

“We thought you'd drowned.” Nami commented as she stuffed a dumpling in her mouth.

“I thought you were--” Luffy started, but Zoro slapped him behind the head.

“I told you I wasn't!” Zoro barked, the pale pink flush still tinting his cheekbones and the tip of his ears. 

“So, tell us about your terrible morning!” Sabo said as he patted the empty chair beside him, and poured a generous glass of beer for Zoro. 

God knew he needed it. 

Zoro let out a breath and sat down next to Sabo, he indulged in a large swig of ale first, then decided it was time to recount the ordeal. 

“So Paulie comes to me while I was doing the usual, y’know? Tells me we're understaffed and shit - like maybe hire more people?” Zoro arched an eyebrow as he started, and got a few mumbles of agreement. 

“I kinda knew he was trying to saddle me with extra work, which - if I get paid for - I'm all about. But he told me I had to do fucking deliveries to the city's restaurants.” Zoro explained, then began to check the takeout boxes to decide what he was going to eat. 

“You? Driving around town?” Nami let out a horrified exclaim. 

“Paulie must be really desperate!” Luffy laughed louder than necessary.

“He really doesn't know better… That's just professional suicide.” Ace commented with a few blinks of the eyes. 

“You actually did it? I'm surprised you made it back!” Sabo gasped. 

“Alright, alright, no need to be rude.” Zoro rolled his eyes. 

He knew his friends were going to understand his struggle, but he wasn't actually looking to be roasted like that. Jesus!

“How many times did you get lost?” Luffy asked with a knowing smirk. 

Zoro glared at him, but then sighed “I lost count.” 

Everyone laughed. It was impossible not to, and Zoro was expecting nothing less from them. 

“The last restaurant I got to… Well I arrived forty minutes later than I was supposed to.” Zoro shrugged a shoulder, then began to dig into his Hokkien fried rice. 

“Oh God, Zoro…” Nami covered her eyes with her hand and shook her head. 

“Oh man…” Ace laughed, shaking his head as well. 

“You should have seen the face of the dude waiting for me, he was such an asshole!” Zoro sputtered around a mouthful of rice. 

“Well, he had to be pissed…” Sabo raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah, but I was trying to apologize for causing trouble and he kept insulting me!” Zoro retorted, slightly offended that Sabo would have the cook's back instead of his. 

“That's a bit cunty, yeah.” Sabo tilted his head slightly to the side. 

“They do work on tight, set schedules though…” Nami pursed her lips. 

“What side are you on?” Zoro grunted, he was starting to get annoyed all over again. 

“I'm just saying that I get why he would be mad--” Nami sighed and stopped when she saw the way in which Zoro was glaring at her. 

“There was no point in being an asshole, anyway.” Zoro shrugged before stuffing his face with as much rice as he could. “Even one of his cooks was making fun of him.”

“Was he handsome, at least?” Ace asked all of a sudden, an irritating smirk curling his lips. 

Zoro inhaled his food at that and started coughing, while Sabo clapped him on the back to try and help him stop suffocating. 

“Ace…” Sabo sighed, shaking his head. 

“What's it gotta do with anything?” Zoro cried, once he'd stop choking. One of his hands moving up to wipe away the tears that had come with the force of his coughing. 

“I'm just curious!” Ace raised his hands. 

“Who cares? He was a fool in a suit who kept fucking with me.” Zoro muttered. 

Though if he really thought about it, he was a handsome guy. Infuriating, rude and pompous, but handsome nonetheless. Not that it mattered or made any difference, Zoro would have still punched the shit out of him, if he were given the chance. 

“He even asked if I had a black eye because another customer punched me.” Zoro rolled his eyes. 

To Zoro's foolish surprise, everyone laughed at that. Way harder than they were supposed to, and making Zoro blush furiously. 

Some friends, they were! 

“You guys are just as bad as him!” Zoro growled and poured himself more beer, trying to ignore the burn in his cheeks. 

“Sorry Zoro, that's too funny!” Luffy said as he held his stomach. 

Zoro didn't even look at him, he just shook his head and tipped back the whole glass of ale. 

“I think he's definitely your type of guy…” Nami chimed. 

Zoro was really glad she'd at least had the courtesy of not saying that kind of shit while he was still drinking, or else he'd have probably choked to death. 

“What the fuck?!” Zoro practically shouted. 

“People are always too scared to approach you, this guy had the guts to even make a joke!” 

When Zoro glared at her, Nami's smirk was so infuriating that he had to keep his hands firmly splayed on the table to resist the urge to flip it over. 

“You're right, Nami!” Luffy gasped. 

“Don't start, not you too!” Zoro growled over at Luffy and his mind-blown expression. 

“So he _ is _ handsome!” Ace insisted, a maddening smirk still pulling at the corner of his mouth.

“I'm outta here.” Zoro grunted, and as he tried to leave the table he was held back by Sabo and Nami holding him by the wrists. 

“We’re on your side, we promise!” Sabo said as he lightly tightened his hold on Zoro.

“You’re a bunch of dicks.” Zoro grunted, but sat back down nonetheless, shooting Ace a deadly glare.

“Alright, alright!” Ace raised his hands in defeat, letting out a dramatic sigh.

“So I met one of Marco’s colleagues…” Luffy started, mouth half full of food, completely changing topic of discussion.

“Oh God…” Ace rubbed at his forehead.

Zoro perked up, eyebrows furrowed as he looked over at Luffy. He wasn’t expecting his recount to be hijacked, but from the turn it was taking he was somewhat glad it was happening. Especially if it was going to ruin Ace's mood, somehow.

“Oh right! He had that dinner with the people from the hospital--” Nami blinked, then looked at Ace “You brought Luffy along?”

“Well, I was there with Koala, too.” Sabo interjected as he filled his plate with a few dumplings.

“Marco said he wanted me to bring them along, too. It was a casual dinner, they really didn’t speak about work that much.” Ace explained with a shrug.

“What about this friend?” Zoro arched an eyebrow at Luffy.

“He’s such a _ fun _ guy!” Luffy beamed.

“He’s so _ not _ fun.” Ace shook his head.

“He is!” Luffy insisted, then looked over at Zoro “He’s a surgeon, and he’s covered in all these kickass tattoos!”

“You told him he looked like he belonged in the Yakuza.” Ace sighed.

Zoro and Nami had the exact same reaction at those words: both froze in horror, then bursted out laughing.

“So? It’s cool that he looks like a bad guy, but he’s actually someone who saves lives!” Luffy shrugged, brow furrowed.

Zoro grinned at that. 

Luffy was one of his favorite people ever, he had one of the most positive outlooks on life and was a genuine people’s person. Someone who tried to always see the good in people, instead of quickly labelling them as bad news. He was always excited to meet new people and everyone was usually drawn to him and his energy, and he was always guaranteed to make friends rather quickly.

There were times in which Zoro wished he could have been a bit more like Luffy… But those were rare times.

“He was clearly uncomfortable.” Ace insisted.

“What are you talking about?” Luffy scoffed.

“Did you ask him to go out, sometimes?” Nami chimed in, the slightest hint of a smirk playing on her lips.

“Sure! He’s an awesome guy, I definitely wanna see him again!” Luffy raised his eyebrows.

“He’s a very reserved guy,” Ace turned to look at Nami and Zoro “he definitely traumatized him.”

“Oh shut up, I didn’t!” Luffy groaned, shaking his head and proceeding to stuff his face with food. “I’ll ask him to go see a horror movie with me. I bet he loves them!” he grinned, mouth almost overflowing with meat.

“How? You gonna stalk him at the hospital?” Ace huffed, amused.

“Marco gave me his number.” Luffy shrugged a shoulder.

“What?!” Ace gasped.

“We’ll be friends in no time.” Luffy grinned.

Zoro laughed out loud at that. He truly had needed that unexpected visit from his friends, he was feeling much better already.

Once they all had finished their meals, the boys took care of the litter and Sabo offered to take care of the dishes before the start of the shift at the reptile store he co-owned with his girlfriend, and Nami made everyone some coffee.

Zoro was just absentmindedly sipping on his mug when Luffy plopped to sit beside him on the couch, nearly making him spill the scalding beverage all over himself.

“Fuckin’ hell, Luffy!” Zoro growled.

“Sorry!” Luffy laughed, “I just wanted to tell you that they’re scheduling some tournaments down at the gym, I took a picture of the flyer.” he said as he produced his cellphone, tapped away on it and then handed it to Zoro.

“Oh, cool…” Zoro raised his eyebrows as he took the phone and began to browse through the informations.

“There’s some good money to make in both our categories.” Luffy said with a smirk.

“Then I guess we should both go get registered.” Zoro said as he lifted his eyes from Luffy’s phone and mirrored his expression.

“I’ll drive you both.” Ace sighed, stretching out like a cat “I gotta head over there anyway, they’re scheduling MMA tournaments, too.”

“Good, so they won’t get lost.” Nami commented, and Zoro glared up at her “What? You wanna tell me it’s not true?”

Zoro rolled his eyes and stood up, deciding to ignore her “I’ll go get my gym bag, I wanna get a couple hours of training in.”

He had some money left from what he had earned the day before that he could use for the gym. He was probably going to spend the rest of the evening working out, but he didn’t know any other way to let out some steam and unwind from that morning. And of course he could train in preparation of the tournament.

“Oh, I’m gonna go walk Chopper real quick, then I'll get my bag, too!” Luffy grinned.

“I’m off to work, guys! See you later.” Sabo said as he emerged from the kitchen and move to grab his jacket from the rack.

“Finally you’re all leaving! So I can study in peace!” Nami let out a relieved sigh.

“Love you too, Nams.” Ace smirked.

Nami grinned, folding her arms across her chest.

“She’s probably got a girl coming in at any minute. Let’s go.” Zoro said after he grabbed his duffel bag.

“Girl, I wish that were true.” Nami sighed, and the guys all laughed before leaving the house.

Zoro and Ace waited for Luffy to take his dog home after the quick walk, and Zoro took that time to try and inquire a bit more about that mysterious colleague of Marco's, but wasn't able to get any useful information because Luffy had walked out of the building right when Ace was about to start talking. The trio got into Ace's car and rock music filled the vehicle as soon as Ace turned on the engine, and Zoro got more comfortable into the backseat.

The car was pulled into the road, and soon enough they were nearing the gym. What made Zoro pull his eyebrows together and sent an uncomfortable feeling in his chest was the sight of the sign _ ‘BARATIE’, _only a block away from where Ace stopped the car in front of the gym.

How hadn’t Zoro realized sooner?!

When the name of the street had rang a bell that morning he’d been too busy getting lost and swearing at the GPS and cursing Paulie. The last thing he’d thought of was that the Posh Bastard’s restaurant was just a literal block away from where Luffy and Ace usually trained. 

“You ok, dude?” Ace asked, picking up on his moodswing right away.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” Zoro grumbled as he shouldered the door of the gym open and left the two brothers to stare at his back, bewildered.

That definitely ruined his mood for the afternoon, he was glad he was just about to go throw some punches. And he seriously hoped God that he wasn’t going to run into Sanji, later that evening.


	2. Family Business

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who has commented on chapter one! The enthusiasm with which you responded to this made me so incredibly happy! It's really good to be back! 🖤

Zoro had been lucky enough to have Luffy train with him until they were completely breathless. Exhaustion and Luffy’s company had definitely been key to Zoro’s mood uplift, not to mention the fact that he had to witness Luffy trying to call up Marco’s colleague without success.

The dude hadn’t picked up.

Luffy had put it down as the guy working and not being able to answer, but Zoro had some of his own doubts. Doubts he hadn’t voiced, but still he had supported Luffy in his endeavor.

“So you like--  _ like _ this dude, as in... a crush?” Zoro had asked, somewhat awkwardly, when they had exited the gym.

They never usually discussed these sort of things. They had always been the pair in their group of friends that never really dated anyone and had never truly been interested in doing so, either. While Sabo was inches away from  _ finally _ proposing to his girlfriend, Ace had finally made things official with Marco, and Nami… Well, she kept falling for the wrong girl.

Luffy was always quick to like people and being intrigued by them, nothing weird about that, it was usual Luffy business. Yet Zoro had a gut feeling about this surgeon, a sensation that strengthened when he spotted the glint that Luffy got in his eyes every time he mentioned him.

That was a first.

“I don’t know… But I think he’s a really interesting guy!” Luffy had answered, a smile and a shrug following his statement.

“I’m sure he is.” Zoro had nodded, a tiny hint of a smile curving his lips.

Then he’d shot a fleeting glance towards the light shining from what absolutely had to be the stupid seafood restaurant, and was relieved to see that the  _ sous-chef _ was nowhere to be seen.

Luffy hadn’t picked up on it, and Zoro had been glad not to have to explain anything. The last thing he had wanted was to bring up the dude and what had happened that morning all over again. Instead, Luffy had asked Zoro to grab a bite somewhere near their apartment building, and he’d been relieved enough to accept.

They had spoken some more about this surgeon, and Zoro was even more sure that Luffy had definitely taken a special kind of interest in the guy, then the topic had shifted on the tournament they’d just signed up for, and the various other competitors.

All in all it had been a pleasant evening out.

Until Zoro’s alarm had gone off at 4.30 am for his morning run before work, and he’d regretted every choice he had made in his life up until that very moment.

He’d stumbled out of bed and through the house, trying not to drop anything or bump into furniture and make too much noise as he’d gotten ready, praying that he wasn’t going to wake Nami up, since he still treasured his life. Once he’d successfully wrapped himself up in enough layers to go against the freezing cold of the asscrack of dawn, he’d gone for his jog and then made his way to the port.

Johnny and Yosaku greeted him as cheerfully as ever. Zoro thought that nobody should ever be even  _ allowed _ to be that cheerful so early in the morning, but it was always nice to have them around, no matter the noise.

He still cared about the dudes in his own way, they were good guys and good colleagues, not to mention very good supporters when it came to his boxing career.

“We heard that there’s a tournament coming up! Did you sign up for it?” Johnny asked, excitement written all over his face.

“Was just at the gym last evening.” Zoro smirked.

“Yes!” Yosaku exclaimed. “We’re definitely gonna be there to cheer you on!”

Zoro nodded in gratitude, a little awkwardly, hands stuffed into the pockets of his anorak.

“We also heard you were sent off to do deliveries yesterday,” Johnny furrowed his eyebrows “how’d that go?”

Zoro grimaced at those words “Don’t remind me. It was a nightmare.”

“Roronoa!”

This time he hadn’t seen Paulie coming from behind the duo, and the two men had flinched and scurried away muttering apologies as soon as he’d approached. Zoro stiffened, there was something off in Paulie’s expression, something he knew he wasn’t going to like.

“Roronoa, even if you screwed up yesterday I need you to do it all over again.” Paulie said, plain and simple.

In that exact moment, Zoro wanted to throw himself into the ocean.

“What?!” he exclaimed, flabbergasted “Man, you know I’m not good for that shit! Send someone else!”

“Told you we’re understaffed, Roronoa!” Paulie groaned, and the smoke from his cigar got into Zoro’s eyes.

He waved off the smoke, coughing a little.

“Shit, sorry…” Paulie grumbled, gawkily waving off the smoke himself “Still, we don’t have enough men. Mr Iceburg and Mr Franky are trying to sort this out as best as they can, but for now you gotta suck it up.”

Zoro grunted and shook his head.

Great. Not only he was going to have to get lost downtown all over again, but he was going to have to see the Posh Bastard  _ again _ .

“I’m not doing that, man.” Zoro shrugged, still not looking at Paulie.

“I’ll give you more money than yesterday.” Paulie went on, arched eyebrow and fat cigar firmly stuck between his teeth.

Shit.

Fuck.

Screw it.

“Gimme the fucking keys.” Zoro grumbled, ignoring Paulie’s victorious grin.

He begrudgingly followed Paulie to the trucks and helped some of his colleagues load the cargo in the back, before tearing the list out of Paulie’s hands and climbing into the cabin.

  
  
  


***

  
  
  


Right after dawn, the sun seems to be climbing up in the sky almost too quickly, eager to finally take the moon’s spot after an entire night of having to hide somewhere else. 

That early morning though, the sky was dull, almost leaden, with grey clouds smothering the faintest attempt of the sun at starting to shine its first cold rays between the buildings of the dozy city. There was a chill in the air yet it was a humid one, the sort of cold that gets right into your bones and you can’t seem to shake off of you.

Sanji tipped his head back, blue eyes studying the grey hues of the sky, the filter of his cigarette trembled slightly between his teeth as he gently swung it up and down with a shift of the jaw, tip still unlit. He wasn’t sure it was going to rain, maybe another round of light drizzle like the day before, if a full storm was brewing he didn’t even want to think about the sort of traffic that would congest the streets, making the amount of potential clients of the day significantly smaller than usual.

Not to mention how late the supplies would come in.

Sanji scoffed at that.

It hadn’t even started raining yesterday by that very same time, yet their fish supply had arrived horrendously late. That green haired boor with the stinkface seriously thought he had done nothing wrong by showing up forty-five minutes later than he was supposed to.

What an imbecile.

Sanji shook his head and finally, after the third try, the flame of his golden zippo turned on and he lit up his cigarette. He rested back against the wall behind him, an ankle over the other, as he let the smoke fill his lungs. That was far from being the first cigarette of the day, but definitely the first one since he’d arrived at the Baratie.

“This damn cold is lethal for my poor joints.” a gruff voice came from the door a foot away from his right, and a bulky man with blond hair came into his field of view, looking up at the sky the way he had just a few moments before.

“We know old man, we know.” Sanji sighed, tapping ash off the tip of his cigarette.

“Get back inside, you’re gonna catch a cold.” the man turned around to look at Sanji, an impressive blond mustache sitting on top of his lips. “And you’re gonna spread germs all over my kitchen, and if that happens I’ll have to kick your ass out.”

“I’m not catching anything,” Sanji rolled his eyes “I’m just finishing this.” he said as he held up the cigarette in front of the man.

“And stop with that shit, too! Messes up your--” 

“My taste buds. Yeah. You’ve said that about a million times, dad.” Sanji deadpanned, then stuck the stick back between his lips with a shrug.

“Zeff!” a feminine voice came from inside “Phone for you!”

“I’m comin’!” Zeff replied to the voice before taking one last look at his son “At least wear a damn scarf.”

Sanji let out a drawn out, exasperated sigh, his eyes following Zeff as he went back into the restaurant, and even moved to take a peek inside only to see the grouchy big old man smile softly at his wife as he took the phone from her. Sanji smirked at that, and before his mother could spot him he slithered away again.

He checked the time on his phone, it was barely past 5.40 am, so it was still early for their fish delivery, but produce was supposed to be on the way. He wondered if the green haired bastard was going to show up instead of Gin again. He had blabbered something about Gin being injured or something, but Sanji didn’t know whether he should have trusted anything coming out of his dumb mouth at all.

He finished off his cigarette then headed back inside, for his father’s joy. It was definitely getting chillier and a few droplets of rain had started sputtering on the concrete of the sidewalk and he wasn’t looking to get his suit drenched.

The warmth of the restaurant wrapped around him like a motherly embrace, making a content sigh leave his lips in relief. The place was quiet, safe for his father’s voice as he still spoke on the phone and the waiters working around the dining hall to set up the tables.

Sanji rubbed his hands together for warmth, he studied the way in which the cold had dried up his knuckles and made a mental note of using some lotion as soon as he got the chance, then raised his eyes again to the reception counter.

His mother, tall and lean, was standing behind the computer, the middle part in her blonde hair divided it into a section that went behind her left ear, while the rest of it had fallen in front of her right eye as she leaned in to type away on the keyboard. In comical contrast to her, his father stood a few inches away, taking up most of the space behind the reception with his large figure as he spoke on the phone. His fingers twirled and tugged at his mustache, an intense scowl wrinkling his already weathered features.

Something that Sanji would never tire of was seeing his parents being so happy and comfortable together, and God knew how much his mother deserved that…

It did make him believe that true love did exist in the end, somehow, after all the hardship, while he’d only found heartache and disappointment in his life, so far.

“Is it raining?” the woman suddenly asked.

Sanji had been so deep in his own musings that he hadn’t even noticed his mother had been looking up at him.

“Just a drizzle, for now.” Sanji shrugged.

“I hope your sister remembered to bring an umbrella with her.” the woman sighed.

“I’m sure Reiju will survive a few raindrops from the house to over here.” Sanji rolled his eyes.

“Is it wrong of me to worry for my kids?” the woman raised a thin eyebrow at her son, right eye still covered by her hair.

“No mom,” Sanji sighed, yet a soft smile bloomed on his lips “of course not.”

The woman smiled as well, the glow from the lights installed behind her making her look almost angelic.

“These fuckin’ energy suppliers will be the death of me!” Zeff barked, slamming the phone back down onto the counter and making the woman besides him flinch harder than necessary.

Sanji had slightly jumped himself at the outburst, even if the man had meant absolutely no harm.

“I’m--” Zeff frowned, turning to look at his wife first “I’m sorry Sora, I didn’t mean to-- I’d never--” he shook his head, then looked over at Sanji, mortified.

“It’s alright, I know--” Sora nodded “It’s not your fault.” she said as she gently placed a hand over Zeff’s bicep.

Zeff nodded and took her tiny, manicured hand into his own big and calloused one. Sanji’s heart was still racing in his chest, but he tried not to focus too much on it.

“I’m gonna get changed.” he said softly before taking his leave, his parents only replying with a nod of the head.

Sanji tried not to think about objects being slammed down into tables, bottles being thrown against walls, glass shards flying everywhere, crude words being shouted, hands crashing down on skin. Bruises, fractures, cuts, cries.

He knew his father had meant no harm at all with his outburst, he’d marely been frustrated by the light company being insufferable lately, still Sanji couldn’t help the nauseating feeling tying up the pit of his stomach. He shook his head and sucked in a shaky breath before he went into the staff changing room to get out of his suit and into his kitchen uniform. 

  
  
  


***

  
  
  


The rain had subsided, yet the sun was still too timid to come out of its hiding spot behind the thick clouds. Sanji stood right outside of the restaurant with one hand stuffed into his pocket and the other up to his mouth, holding another cigarette.

The fish delivery was late. Again.

“That’s fucking unacceptable.” Sanji grumbled, smoke coming out of his mouth right after he’d uttered the slightly nasal sentence. “I bet it’s the idiot from yesterday morning.”

“Probably,” one of his colleagues was smoking right beside him, shaking his head “how is he keeping his job?”

“I’m gonna make sure he doesn’t.” Sanji growled as he dropped the burnt out cigarette on the sidewalk and stepped on it. “We’ve got the braised cod to get started and it’s getting way too late. Just like yesterday.”

“Speak of the devil.” the other man put out his cigarette as well, then fixed his uniform up as he watched the truck approach.

Behind the windshield sat the same green haired klutz that Sanji had seen the day before, his face scrunched in a frown as he pulled over to the sidewalk and right in front of the two cooks. He seemed to be fumbling with something sitting on the passenger seat for a moment, then swung the door open and jumped out of the cabin.

“‘Morning,” the klutz started, without looking at any of them in the eyes “sorry for being late again.”

“How the fuck are you still working? Haven’t they fired you, yet?” Sanji barked right away.

The trucker glared up at him but didn’t say anything, he just walked around the truck to reach the back and start unloading the goods. Sanji couldn’t stand the way in which he was being ignored, so he followed right behind Patty who was already by the back with the boor.

“Why the fuck are you always so late, anyway?” Sanji went on, arms crossed over his chest.

“It’s not like I’m having fun, alright? I apologized.” the green haired man spoke as he unloaded crate after crate.

“We’re not having fun either, we’re working. You’re slowing us down.” Sanji kept pressing. “I’m gonna have to call Galley-La and tell them to cut you from the deliveries.”

“I’d rather not deal with this or you, but my boss says we’re understaffed so I’ve gotta keep doing this.” the man grunted, putting one foot on the back of the truck for support.

Sanji tried to ignore the way in which his thigh muscles bulged, he was trying to stay angry at this insufferable idiot. He felt a bout of anger rush through him for so many reasons all at once, so much that he lunged at him and grabbed him by the collar of his hoodie.

“Listen here, you fucking asshole!” Sanji groaned.

He wasn’t expecting the other man to grab him by the sides of his shirt uniform with both hands, but he did and with impressive strength as well.

“Touch me and you’re gonna lose your job even faster!” Sanji went on, he could hear his colleague’s voice calling out to him, probably his hands were on his shoulders, too, but he didn’t care.

All he heard was his own heartbeat, hammering in his ears and pulsating in his throat, all he saw was the snarl of the other man who looked just about as ready as Sanji was to brawl.

“What the fuck is going on, here?!”

That phrase, uttered from a feminine voice was the only thing able to actually reach Sanji’s ears past the searing hot rage, so that he actually let go of the man and took a step back.

Standing a couple feet away from them was a girl as tall as Sanji, with pink hair, a khaki shirt and military green pants. She rested her hands on her hips, glaring daggers at Sanji.

“Reiju, I--”

“Are you actually assaulting the delivery guy?” Reiju went on, shaking her head in disbelief.

“He’s fifty minutes late! Fifty! Worse than yesterday!” Sanji tried to argue, knowing damn well he was going to lose against his older sister no matter what.

“So you decide to physically fight him?” Reiju lifted her eyebrow “Makes perfect sense.”

“I’ll just finish unloading these and get out of here.” the boor suddenly intervened.

Sanji’s head whipped in his direction, he noticed that there was a soft flush spreading across the man’s face and he wasn’t looking at either of the siblings. He got back to work, tenser than he was before, but Sanji didn’t spare him a glare.

“I’m sorry, my brother can be a little too much at times.” Reiju said in a tone that sounded way too condescending for Sanji’s taste.

“Really?” the man said as he stacked the last crate on top of other two. 

“It’s the second time in a row that he’s ridiculously late, we work on a tight schedule and I just don’t--” Sanji tried to explain himself.

He didn’t even know why he needed to explain himself, he knew he was right, his sister was just being ridiculous for the sake of it.

“Sign this. Please.” the man said as he thrusted a clipboard and a pen into Sanji’s hand.

Sanji glowered at the man. His jaw was clenching hard, accompanied by a vein popping on his neck and another on his forehead. There was something in his gaze that made Sanji’s lips twitch, something that sent a weird sensation coiling around his stomach.

“Can you sign this?” the man repeated, irritated.

For how long had he been staring?

It couldn’t have been that long, certainly. 

He swallowed thickly.

“Yes, I can.” Sanji said as he harshly took the items from the other man and signed the delivery form, before handing it back.

The boor was avoiding his gaze as much as he could, Sanji noticed that the black eye from yesterday morning had faded a bit more. This dude definitely was used to fighting, he probably got on other people’s nerves just as much. 

“Bye, then!” Reiju smiled and waved at the guy, who didn’t say anything in return and just climbed back into the driver seat.

Sanji waited for the guy to actually drive off, before turning around to face Reiju in anger.

“Thanks for making me look like a fucking stupid kid!” Sanji groaned at his sister.

“You were already doing a great job at it yourself!” Reiju argued back, and watched as the other cooks came out of the restaurant to bring the crates inside.

Sanji knew he had been overreacting, there was just something about that green haired bastard that got his blood boiling. Still, he also knew that he had a right to be mad at him for his incompetence and brazenness. He shook his head and pushed past his sister to get back into the restaurant, knowing that Reiju was going to follow him.

“These are nearly an hour late!” Sanji heard Zeff growling to the cooks as soon as he stepped inside. “What the fuck?”

“See?” Sanji arched an eyebrow at his sister.

Reiju only rolled her eyes at him and shook her head.

“The guy is probably new to his job, he’s doing the best he can.” Sora sighed from one of the windows of the restaurant.

Sanji’s eyes widened “Have you been watching us the whole time?”

“Yes,” Sora arched an eyebrow “you’ve been very rude to him.” 

“He was awful.” Reiju shook her head.

“You shouldn’t have treated him like that, no matter what.” Sora reprimanded.

Sanji looked away, he could feel a flush creeping up his neck the more his mother stared pointedly at him. Sora didn’t tolerate violence and bullying of any kind, and no matter how hard Sanji tried to get his reasons across he knew he was still going to look like the one at fault.

“That guy is pretty damn handsome, by the way.” Reiju said suddenly, and way too randomly in Sanji’s opinion.

“He is!” Sora smiled.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Sanji groaned “You’re letting him off the hook just ‘cause he looks good?”

“I’m letting him off the hook because he’s  _ working _ , Sanji. You shouldn’t mistreat people who are working, and you know it.” Sora rebuked “You get mad at clients who mistreat our waiters, too!”

“Well that’s different! I was working, too! He’s causing problem to  _ my _ job!” Sanji retorted, placing both hands on his own chest.

“It’s true, this delivery should have been here much earlier.” Zeff grumbled not too far behind Sanji.

“Still isn’t a good reason to brawl with a man who’s doing his job.” Sora arched an eyebrow as she levelled her husband with a look.

Sanji folded his arms across his chest, as if to underline his father’s words and how he agreed with him. He knew that the geezer was going to have his back, Sanji had inherited his hard working ethic and had made punctuality one of the staples of his career as a cook.

As he was staring at his mother and sister, feeling his father standing just a foot behind him, probably staring at them himself, he noticed the way in which the women exchanged a weird look. Sanji arched an eyebrow at that behavior and looked at his father, whose expression was way too knowing.

“He’s really cute though, isn’t he?” Sora said.

“He is.” Reiju nodded.

“Oh my God…” Sanji groaned as he covered his face with both hands.

“You’re unbelievable.” Zeff scoffed, then turned around to get back to the kitchen.

“Hey, he’s definitely much better looking than Gin!” Reiju raised her eyebrows, as if she was making a very important point into this discussion.

“At least he’s pleasant to look at, while he delivers fish late.” Sora nodded at her daughter.

“You’re both insane.” Sanji shook his head, then watched as both women laughed out loud.

They were definitely trying to rile him up further, but Sanji knew they probably believed that, too. So what if he was good looking? It truly had nothing to do with how awful he was at his job.

“I’m gonna have to speak to Mr Franky.” Sanji said once the laughter had died down.

“Sanji, just leave him be.” Sora sighed.

“You really wanna get him fired?” Reiju folded her arms across her chest “If he’s doing something that he doesn’t even wanna do it’s probably ‘cause he needs the money.”

A nasty twitch in Sanji’s gut made him grimace, because as much as he hated to admit that, they were right. No matter what, everyone should have enough money to have a roof over their head and food to put into their stomach… Making him lose his job would have definitely been cruel on his part, even if he was a dumb asshole.

“Well, they shouldn’t let him do deliveries. He’s clearly useless at that.” Sanji muttered anyway.

He thought about the black eye again, he thought about the intensity of his gaze boring into Sanji’s when they were about to get physical, and a shiver jolted through him. 

Reiju let out a sigh and shook her head before moving behind the reception counter to grab a spare umbrella.

“Don’t you wanna eat something before work?” Sora asked as she watched her daughter get ready to leave.

“I’ll grab a bite on the way, I gotta go to the reptile shop before heading over to the sanctuary, anyway.” Reiju explained as she shrugged on her coat “I’m all out of frozen mice and grasshoppers for my babies.”

Sanji grimaced at those words. 

Reiju had always been obsessed with reptiles of every kind, especially snakes and anything venomous, so she had turned that passion into a career and had become a herpetologist. Sanji on his hand, had always hated any sort of reptile and insect or bug, the creepy crawlers being terrifying to him, and of course his sister would have her entire bedroom filled with tanks full of such creatures to take care of.

“Alright, sweetheart. Be careful.” Sora smiled at her daughter.

“Sure mom, bye bye!” 

Reiju then looked over at her brother, hissed like a snake making him roll his eyes, and waved at him with an unnerving smirk tugging at her lips.

“Still mad?” Sora asked as she stepped over to Sanji, placing a hand on his cheek.

Sanji shrugged his shoulders. “Nah, I’m good.”

Of course he was, but he knew that discussing this any further wouldn’t have accomplished anything. As his mother smiled at him the phone went off, so she went back to her spot behind the reception to get the call.

Sanji decided to go smoke one last cigarette before going to help in the kitchen, so he grabbed his jacket and went back outside with his zippo and Marlboro packet to unwind.

  
  
  


***

  
  
  


The front door of the small apartment slammed shut so hard that it made the thin walls shake with the force of the impact, Nami watched the picture she had of her mother and sister stuck on the fridge with a magnet rattle.

She’d gotten up early that morning to study for her climatology exam, to take advantage of the house being empty until Zoro would come back home from work, and she’d definitely had the best idea. It didn’t take a clairvoyant to know that her best friend was pissed… Again.

Only she’d have appreciated it if he didn’t demolish their house in the process of letting steam off.

“What the hell happened?” Nami asked, emerging from the kitchen and leaning against the doorframe.

Zoro glared at her as he shrugged off his anorak and threw it on the couch instead of hanging it on the rack. Nami followed the jacket with her eyes as it flew to the couch, but didn’t comment on it.

“The fucking Posh Bastard from yesterday, is what happened.” Zoro growled.

Nami sighed and folded her arms over her breasts, shaking her head slightly.

“Paulie got you to do deliveries again?” 

“He pays me almost more than double my usual paycheck.” Zoro muttered, looking away from her and disappearing to his bedroom.

Nami’s eyebrows raised at that. 

Zoro’s paycheck wasn’t a fat one, he could barely help her out with rent and utilities every month, but even if Nami barked at him that she was usually the one paying more than she was due way too often, she didn’t truly mind.

Nami had known Zoro since middle school, and perfectly knew the struggles he’d always suffered even as a kid. She loved the guy and when he’d found himself alone and with barely any money to function as an adult, Nami had decided to share a flat with him mainly to help him out with money.

She perfectly understood why he was doing something he despised if it paid more than he was used to get.

“What did the guy do, today?” Nami asked out loud, and immediately got a grunt in response.

Zoro came back from his bedroom with a pair of grey sweatpants, a black tank top and no shoes on, and went past her to get a beer from the fridge. Nami pursed her lips as she turned to watch him, she always felt like reprimanding him every time he grabbed anything with alcohol in, mainly because she was aware that alcoholism could be genetic and her mind always, inevitably went to Zoro’s father.

Even if she and Zoro used to do drinking challenges for money, back in highschool. It was different now, she was an adult, she understood it could be trouble...

“He wanted to beat me up.” Zoro snorted, back still turned to her.

Nami’s eyes widened under knit together eyebrows, at that.  “He what?”

“You heard that right.” Zoro said as he turned around “Grabbed me by the hoodie and all.”

“What the fuck?!” Nami huffed.

Zoro tipped back almost more than half of the beer he’d just cracked open, then shrugged his shoulders.

“A girl broke us up, otherwise I’d have fucked him up.” Zoro snorted, shaking his head. “Think she was his sister or something.”

“His sister?” Nami arched an eyebrow “How old is this dude?!”

“Fuck do I know?” Zoro grunted as he finished off the beer, then pulled out a few bills from his pocket and handed them to Nami “The rest of my rent.”

Nami looked down at the money, and though her first instinct would have been to grab it, she shrugged her shoulders “I’m gonna use the money you gave me yesterday for the rent. You got that tournament coming up, right?”

Zoro arched an eyebrow, looking quite taken aback by her reaction. 

“Yeah… I do…” he scowled at her, puzzled.

“Then use that money to get some serious training down at the gym, will ya?” Nami said as she went to gather her books and notebooks from the kitchen table.

“What? You scared I’m not gonna win?” Zoro scoffed.

“No… I just want you to be in tip top shape for it, so you won’t spend your prize in medical bills.” Nami smiled at him.

“That never happens after I fight!” Zoro retorted, almost offended “I never even got my nose broken!”

“Never say never ~” Nami teased. She loved to get on his nerves.

“Don’t jinx this!” Zoro groaned, but Nami saw him pocket back the money anyway.

“I’m not! Working out with others does you good!” Nami shrugged, then when she had her arms full of books, she jerked her chin towards the freezer. 0“We have some steaks in the fridge, would you mind thawing them for lunch?”

“Alright, alright…” Zoro muttered as he opened the freezer to look for the steaks.

He seemed to have calmed down a little, especially when Nami had suggested he just keep the money. She had been working part-time as a secretary in an accounting firm for a long time, and she was actually incredible at saving up, so she never had to worry about money being tight for her. She could definitely help her friend out, especially now that things had started to sound so insane at his job.

She shot him one last look, then walked back to her room to put her books away.

Zoro didn’t appreciate pity or charity, but he knew that Nami wasn’t doing anything like that. He could definitely use the money to take advantage of the gym for a while, maybe he could call up Luffy and Ace to get some training done together.

He did need to get his mind off that morning, anyway. And he knew that that shit was likely to happen tomorrow again, if Paulie had yet to find a replacement for Gin.

Zoro didn’t know for how long he could do that, so he needed to get his act together and try to be on time, so that he wouldn’t have to break the Posh Bastard’s face for real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out the amazing artwork that [CharlieNozaki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharlieNozaki/pseuds/CharlieNozaki) made from chapter 1 [here!](https://marimoyaro.tumblr.com/post/190840197400/lets-take-several-moments-to-appreciate-the) 🖤


	3. Kick Off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Only now that I'm updating the story I realized that the site had accidentally set the publication date of chapter 2 back to February 6th, the date that I first published chapter 1, meaning that it probably stayed back in the queue. 
> 
> Splendid! 😑
> 
> Anyway, here's chapter 3! I hope you'll enjoy it!

_ “Just a short nap…” _

Zoro had told himself after having had lunch with Nami. He would have woken up after sleeping maybe for an hour, then he was going to call up his friends and see if they wanted to tag along for a couple hours of training.

Yet when he opened his eyes his bedroom was pitch black. There was a faint sound of people speaking coming from the living room, he couldn’t quite place any of the voices he was hearing, but he did bolt upright to sit as soon as he realized he had definitely slept for too long.

He patted around the bed, feeling for his phone instead of just going for the bedside lamp to turn on the light and actually see where it was. Once he found it, half tucked under his pillow, he didn’t even check the notifications that had popped up on his screen, but groaned when he realized he had slept past 7 pm.

“Fuck!” Zoro growled, letting his head roll back.

He’d wasted so much time and he hated that. 

Finally, he decided to switch on the light. He rubbed at his eyes and stood up to change into something a bit warmer and get his gym bag ready. He debated whether he should have still given Ace and Luffy a call, but he feared they might have both been otherwise engaged, so he decided against it.

Once he was ready he stepped out of the bedroom to get to the bathroom and splash his face with some fresh water, but heard Nami’s voice calling out to him from the living room, so he sighed and went to see what was up to. She was curled up on the couch with a blanket, watching television - definitely the source of the voices he’d heard when he’d first woken up.

“I thought you were dead!” Nami smirked up at him “You were really cooked, huh?”

“I guess.” Zoro let out a drawn out sigh.

“You heading out?” Nami asked.

“Yeah, to the gym.” Zoro said as he stretched out his arms and back, a yawn escaping his control as he did so.

“Alright, I’m gonna go to mom’s then. You’ll be out ‘til late, right?” Nami asked, then she yawned right after he did.

“Yeah probably, go ahead.” Zoro nodded.

“Okey-dokey.” Nami said, and Zoro rolled his eyes with a smirk at that, before he ducked back into the bathroom.

  
  
  


***

  
  


One punch. Two punches. A whirring noise and then a thud.

“When are they gonna fix this piece of shit?” Zoro groaned as he bent over to grab a bottle of water from the pick up box.

“I keep telling the receptionists, but they never do anything about it.” the girl standing next to Zoro shook her head and took his place by the vending machine to get a drink for herself.

“Obviously.” Zoro muttered before taking a big gulp of water.

The girl straightened back up after collecting her coconut water, and flipped her long pink braid back behind her shoulders “I hadn’t seen you around here for a while.”

“Yeah, well…” Zoro shrugged “I train at home, mostly.”

“Thought so, Luffy told me that.” the girl nodded, a soft smile curving her lips as she took a sip of her water “It was nice training with you, for a change!”

Zoro nodded at that, mouth full of water. 

Rebecca was a friend of Luffy’s and she was a boxer as well, one of the best Zoro had seen in a long time, she was training to compete for the world champion title in the women’s light middle weights class. She was usually accompanied by her father, her personal trainer and manager, but that evening she had been alone and upon recognizing Zoro amongst the other boxers she’d asked to train together. 

It had definitely been a good idea to accept, not only because training with someone else would keep him focused, but because Rebecca was genuinely amazing at fighting and Zoro always liked a challenging training session.

“Did you sign up for the tournament?” Rebecca asked, wiping sweat from her brow with the back of her bandaged hand. Her fringe sticking up a bit in the process.

“I did. Luffy did, too.” Zoro smirked, then crushed the empty plastic bottle and chucked it into the trash bin.

“I knew he would!” Rebecca chuckled “You guys are definitely gonna win.”

Zoro grinned at that, but didn’t say anything in return. He grabbed his phone from the pocket of his shorts and checked the time. It was slightly past 11 pm and he wasn’t surprised at all, every time he had the chance to workout at the gym he would make the most of it.

“I’m gonna go shower, then I’ll head straight home. My father’s training me early in the morning, tomorrow.” Rebecca announced with a sigh, as she bought herself another flavored water.

“Yeah, I’ll do the same.” Zoro nodded. 

He was glad she didn’t ask him to go and get something to eat because he wouldn’t have felt comfortable doing so. Not that Rebecca wasn’t nice to hang out with, but training was one thing and having to sit somewhere and talk while eating was definitely a different story.

“Nice training with you, goodnight!” Rebecca waved to him, a smile spread across her lips as she turned around to head to the changing rooms while she toweled the back of her head dry.

“For me too, bye!” Zoro nodded at her and watched her head to the women’s changing rooms before heading to the men’s himself.

He actually didn’t shower, the showers at this gym were the kind that you have to pay for to use, so he decided that just toweling off the sweat and wearing a hood over his beanie was going to be just fine until he could shower at home. That way he would have been quicker to get out of the gym, too.

Once he was outside he sucked in a big breath of cold night air and heaved out a long, drawn out sigh. It was cold, but at least it wasn’t raining. 

For some reason Zoro couldn’t help himself to throw yet another quick glance to the lights of the Baratie, and when a couple figures caught his eyes he had to do a double take and squint to get a better look at what his mind hadn't properly registered at first.

The Posh Bastard was there. It was definitely him from the back and only his left side was illuminated by the light of the restaurant, Zoro could still make out his blond hair and that stupid suit of his, only covered by a jacket. 

But someone else was there, too, and it didn’t look like they were up to any good. They were sneaking in the dimly lit corner of the street, and as soon as Sanji started walking in the opposite direction the figure jumped out of the shadows to try and rob the cook.

“Ah, shit!” Zoro muttered to himself.

He was really going to go to that bastard’s rescue, wasn't he? 

For fuck’s sake. 

He sprinted in the direction of the blond fully ready to launch himself at the thief, but when he really thought that the mugger was just about to get away with his crime, Sanji side kicked the dude, flooring him, then stepped on his chest to keep him in place and snatched the wallet right out of his hand. 

Sanji seemed to freeze for a moment when he saw the person's face up close, but even if Zoro was close enough to hear whatever Sanji might have been saying to him, he couldn’t make out anything, he only saw him remove his foot from the guy's chest in order to let him scramble away.

Zoro remained frozen, watching the rest of the scene unfold before him in bewilderment. The thief blabbed something unintelligible, then took off running straight into Zoro's direction and past him. The cook didn't turn around though, he just shook his head and pushed the wallet back to its place. 

That had been quite… Impressive. And weird. Zoro had to admit it.

And the way in which the cook had defended himself definitely hadn’t been attractive. Not at all. No part of Zoro had unconsciously reacted to that. Absolutely, categorically hadn’t.

As he kept gawking like an idiot, Sanji turned around as if to check the whereabouts of the mugger and his eyes almost popped out of their sockets upon finding Zoro standing not too far from him like a weirdo. 

“What the fuck?!” Sanji cried, dropping his cigarette on the floor and assuming a defensive stance “Are you stalking me? You wanna finish what we started this morning?” 

Zoro was half expecting to hear that, after all they weren't on friendly terms. Far from it. Still, even if he would have gladly rearranged the guy's features with his knuckles, he wouldn't have let him get mugged as petty revenge. 

“I just--” Zoro fumbled with his words right away and shrugged, thumb jabbing back over his shoulder to point at the gym. 

Sanji furrowed his brows as his gaze followed Zoro's finger. Zoro sighed, his shoulders sagging. 

“I just got out of the gym and saw that thief coming at you--”

“So you were gonna help him attack me?” Sanji arched an eyebrow as he pulled out another cigarette from his jacket. 

“The fuck? No, I was gonna help  _ you _ .” Zoro retorted with a scoff, folding his arms over his chest. 

Sanji snorted, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips “Oh, really? Well, I'm not a damsel in distress, as you probably saw.” 

Zoro rolled his eyes. God, this dude was insufferable.

“Yeah, I saw. I just wanted to--” 

“What are you, some kinda vigilante?” Sanji went on, taking a long drag of smoke and then exhaling it harshly towards Zoro. 

“No, but you're some kinda fucking bitch.” Zoro shook his head, already rethinking his own intentions. 

Maybe he did deserve to be mugged, after all. What a shitty attitude.

“He was just a homeless kid anyway…” Sanji shook his head, looking down at the floor “I gave him some food once or twice, when he was starving. He hadn't recognized me.” 

Zoro's eyebrows drew together impossibly close at those words, he definitely wasn't expecting to hear that. 

“I was--” Zoro didn't really know how to react to that, especially since he didn't think the blond would actually explain to _him_ what had happened “wondering why'd you let him go.” 

Sanji shrugged, taking another drag of tobacco and still staring at his feet. Zoro arched an eyebrow at that behavior, it was far from the hostility he had shown up until then, just thinking back to the unexpected and aggressive way in which he’d grabbed him earlier that morning, the blond almost seemed like a completely different person now.

Maybe the one who had kicked the kid hard enough to knock him down was similar to the one who wanted to beat Zoro up, but this one… This one was different. Softer, maybe.

“That kick was pretty impressive.” Zoro sort of blurted out when he felt like the other man wasn’t going to reply.

Why the hell had he felt the need to say that he didn’t know, but it was out there now and couldn't be sucked back in. 

The last thing Zoro thought was going to happen that night was to start an awkward conversation with the man that had been putting him through hell lately, but the cook seemed to be somehow more interesting than he let on. That kick had truly been remarkable and perfectly executed, and Zoro was naturally drawn to different fighting styles and… Well, fighters in general.

Sanji looked up at him with a scowl “It was just a kick.” he shrugged.

“That was some Taekwondo-like side kick. Not  _ just _ a kick.” Zoro argued back, arching an eyebrow.

“What are you, the martial art police?” Sanji snorted before puffing on his cigarette again.

Again. Insufferable.

He should have just stopped talking, but couldn't help himself. Damn his stubbornness. 

“I just know a fighter when I see one.” Zoro shrugged a shoulder.

“What are you talking about, man?” Sanji growled “I was just--”

“A regular person wouldn’t have seen that mugger come, you didn’t even turn around. You knew he was there and perfectly knew where and how to hit him.” Zoro insisted.

Sanji’s expression went through quite the journey, from sarcastic, to annoyed, to impressed, then to annoyed again, but couldn’t quite seem to be able to bring any word to come out of his slightly opened mouth right away. 

“Whatever.” was all the blond could manage to mutter, shaking his head.

Zoro just stared at him for a few moments, then realized how stupid it must have been to just keep on trying to talk to this guy without sounding ridiculous. They disliked each other, and that conversation was beyond awkward and unnecessary. 

It wasn’t even like Zoro had actively helped him with the mugger, he’d just stood there to watch like a normal bystander.

That hadn’t changed absolutely anything. Zoro still thought he’d been an asshole for verbally and nearly physically attacking him only for being late with his delivery, and Sanji definitely thought he was an incompetent asshole who kept fucking up the restaurant’s schedule with his tardiness.

Zoro didn’t even know why the thought had ever sneaked into his mind to begin with.

“Whatever.” Zoro almost echoed the cook’s grumble, and turned around to head back home.

He'd only taken a couple steps away from the other man when he suddenly heard him say out loud:

“I used to be a Taekwondoin.”

Zoro stopped in his tracks, the faintest hint of a lopsided smirk curling his lips upon hearing those words. Yet there had been an emphasis on the past tense that had him turn again to look at the blond quizzically. 

“Used to?” Zoro arched an eyebrow. 

“Means I ain't one anymore.” Sanji replied, condescendingly. 

The irresistible urge to deck the guy had resurged all of a sudden. 

“No shit.” Zoro rolled his eyes at that. 

Sanji laughed at his reaction. A genuine and crystalline laugh that made the blond throw his head back and his blue eyes shine even in the dim, pale yellow light of the streetlamp. 

And for some diabolical reason, that laugh shot through Zoro like a lightning bolt, a fluttering of butterfly wings exploding right into the pit of his stomach. 

What the  _ shit _ . 

“At least you find your own shitty jokes funny.” Zoro muttered. 

“It's your face that's funny, actually.” Sanji said as he wiped at the corner of his left eye with the back of his thumb. 

Again, he wasn't gonna let the dude's provocations get to him. Even if he'd wanted to suppress that quivering feeling he'd just gotten by fighting him, Zoro didn't think it would have been smart to throw hands with him. 

“Right.” Zoro shook his head. 

There was a brief, odd moment of silence between them in which they both looked at each other and quickly averted their eyes. It was then that Zoro would have wanted to take his leave, but Sanji was speaking again. 

“You gonna be late again, tomorrow morning?” he asked, sarcasm thick in his tone. 

“Fuck off!” Zoro groaned, throwing his head back. He couldn't believe the cook really wanted to go there. 

“If you tell me now, maybe I'll be manage to beat you up before my sister saves your ass.” Sanji kept teasing, a devilish smirk spreading across his face. 

Now, this guy was just asking for it. Ex Taekwondoin or not, Zoro knew he could take him. 

“I think your sister actually saved  _ your _ ass, this morning.” Zoro arched an eyebrow, an aggravating smirk tugging at the right corner of his mouth.

“Even out of practice I could kick your ass, boxer boy.” Sanji went on, an irritating twinkle in his eye.

“Keep on dreaming, shitty cook.” Zoro scoffed.

He was just about to attempt to leave for the third time when he heard a harsh hiss of air and the sole of Sanji’s shoe was suddenly a couple inches away from his face. 

“You were saying?” Sanji asked, cigarette between his lips and hands in his pockets, effortlessly keeping his balance.

Zoro scowled at him and slapped his foot away from his face.

“Give it a rest, Bruce Lee.” Zoro grunted.

He had been impressed, once again, not that he was going to admit it, still the cook was starting to get on his nerves once again. This time he actually did round on his heels to leave for good, and there was nothing else the blond could say to rile him up in any way.

“Actually, Bruce Lee practiced Jeet Kune do. " Sanji unnervingly and unnecessarily corrected him "Walk on home, Raging Bull.”

Zoro heard him chuckle to himself but he ignored it with a roll of his eyes. He really hoped Paulie was going to find a solution to Gin’s sick leave that didn’t include him, again.

  
  
  


***

  
  
  


_ Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. _

Was the only sound accompanying Sanji on his walk back home from work, that night. A sound that followed him all the way inside his house, blood coursing hastily through his veins and throbbing into his ears hard enough to muffle everything else around him. 

His knees were kind of sore, courtesy of the couple kicks he had brilliantly decided to throw earlier, but he couldn't truly feel it, as the rush of blood pumping through his system suppressed every other feeling, as well.   
  
Why had he even felt the need to show off the way he had, was beyond him. He just hadn't been able to keep from doing so, that dude awakened things in him that...  
  
Enough of that nonsense!

He fumbled with the set of keys to find the right one, and sound of it slipping inside the slot and unlocking the front door was dulled by his heartbeat, as he slithered inside the darkness of the two story house in which he lived with his family. He felt around for the lightswitch, cursing under his breath when he couldn’t find it on the first try - as if the blood pulsating in his throat was able to stifle his memory, too.

“You nearly got mugged,” he told himself for the third time. Or was it the fourth? “that’s why you’re so shaken.”

Yes. There had been no other reason for him to feel that way. When he’d left the restaurant earlier than his usual it had been to get some well deserved rest, and not to almost get jumped by the scrawny teen he’d fed roughly a month or two before. 

It had nothing to do with the boor that had followed right after, he didn't awake _anything_ inside of him.

He scrubbed a hand down his tired features, he could feel the bags under his eyes with the tip of his fingers, then finally shrugged off his coat and hung it next to Reiju’s obnoxious fuchsia faux fur jacket. 

_ Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. _

That sound, that sensation… It was driving him insane.

“You’re just upset. You’ll be fine.” he wasn’t even saying this out loud, but he kept repeating this over and over in his head like a mantra, while his heart was going wild in his chest.

Then a soft meow interrupted his internal monolog.

Finally something that managed to make it past the loud hammering of his own heartbeat.

Sanji looked down to his feet only to see a flurry of snow rubbing elegantly from his left ankle to the right, then back again, fluffy tail vibrating in excitement as it twirled around his calves, a low and gentle purr filling the silence of the house.

“Hey baby! Hi!” Sanji cooed, picking up the cat and holding it close to his chest “How’s my beautiful princess doing? Huh?”

The odd eyed cat looked up at him for a moment, a flash of emerald and sapphire that disappeared only to rub her head against Sanji’s chin, a soft chuckle left his lips as soon as she did so. The purring was mixing and synchronizing with his heartbeat as Sanji stroke and scratched gently at the long and soft white fur, and slowly but surely, the loud thrumming simmered down.

“Dad had a shitty day.” Sanji sighed, before adding “Again.” 

He buried his nose into the soft fur of the cat's head, then started in the direction of the kitchen, purring critter still tucked underneath his chin. Once he was inside the room he let the cat jump out of his arms and onto the counter, in order to grab her little bowl and serve her a portion of her favorite wet food. 

Sanji watched as the cat excitedly twirled on herself, tail up in the air as she started meowing until the pink ceramic bowl that read  _ Neve  _ in a fancy black cursive font, was placed in front of her. 

“I met that stupid green haired idiot, you know? Twice.” Sanji began as he opened a cabinet to grab a kettle and fill it with water. “It's starting to become a nightmare, already…” 

“He came out of nowhere tonight, thought he was stalking me or something.” Sanji muttered as he set the kettle on the stove and began to search for one of his mother's infusions through the other cabinets. 

“He was watching me like a creep, just standing a few feet away from where I was. Then started asking me questions about martial arts.” Sanji scoffed as he leaned his right hip against the counter, arms crossing over his chest as he watched Neve delicately munching on her chicken and salmon shreds. 

“Has she answered yet?”

The voice had come so suddenly and unexpectedly that Sanji had nearly toppled over in shock, only just managing to hold himself upright by leaning onto the back of a chair. Neve, being startled by Sanji's sudden motions, jumped off the counter and scurried out of the kitchen. 

“Jesus!” the voice went on. 

Sanji lifted his murderous glare to the way too obvious owner of the voice, and snarled out her name “Reiju!”

“You and Neve are the most dramatic duo, I swear to God.” Reiju shook her head and padded over to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. 

“You almost gave me a heart attack! No wonder she ran off!” Sanji growled, gesturing to the door of the kitchen. 

“You gotta stop thinking she's your therapist, Sanji.” Reiju said before taking a large gulp of water directly from the bottle and putting it back into the fridge. 

Sanji felt an awkward fluttering bursting into the pit of his stomach, heat slowly but surely creeping up his cheeks. 

“Fuck off, I know that!” Sanji growled, the uncomfortable feeling of warmth spreading towards the tips of his ears “I was just rambling.” 

Reiju folded her arms across her chest as she fixed him with a look. She shouldn't have looked as severe as she did in her bubblegum pink pyjama, but there was a reason if all of her friends and coworkers called her _Poison_ _Pink_. She might have looked like a My Little Pony had vomited all over her, but his sister could be as fearsome as a black mamba. 

The longer her eyes bore into Sanji's, the faster his heart started racing in his chest all over again, and he desperately wanted out of the conversation that hadn't even started yet. 

He was just about to turn off the stove to just leave the kettle to cool down and go straight to his bedroom, but Reiju sighed and hitched herself up on the kitchen table. 

“Can you make some tea for me, too?” she asked, her tone softer, just like the look in her eyes. 

Sanji pressed his lips together and exhaled through his nose, but he did move to grab two mugs and settled them on the table next to her. 

Reiju smiled at him, then watched as he lit up a cigarette using the fire from the stove. 

“Remember when you caught your fringe on fire to do that?” Reiju laughed at the sudden recollection. 

Sanji couldn't help but snort as well, trying not to choke on the drag of smoke. Though it had been quite dramatic at the time, he couldn't deny that nowadays it was the funniest and stupidest thing ever. 

“You threw an entire glass of Dr Pepper at my face to put it out!” Sanji added, almost dropping his cigarette as he laughed. 

“Oh shit! I did!” Reiju held her stomach, laughter making her nearly fall off the table. 

They kept laughing until tears spilled from their eyes and the kettle whistled, forcefully interrupting their little moment of hilarity. 

He had definitely needed that laugh. 

“I hope bedtime tea isn't too strong for you.” Sanji tilted his head slightly as he turned off the stove and set a little bag of finely ground leaves in each mug. 

“As strong as your hatred for the green haired delivery guy?” Reiju asked, arching an eyebrow, the ghost of a smirk playing about her lips. 

Sanji nearly knocked over the kettle, but managed to save it before he could scald himself with scorching hot water. The cigarette on the other hand, fell from his grip and onto the floor. 

“Shit!” Sanji yelped as he quickly picked the cigarette back up before it could set their mother's kitchen rug on fire. 

“God, this guy really does things to you, huh?” Reiju kept jabbing, relentless.

If Sanji's face hadn't turned beet red earlier, it was surely verging on vermillion by that point. 

What was her problem?! 

“What the fuck?!” Sanji exclaimed, his pitch sounding way higher than normal. “If by  _ things _ you mean pissing me the fuck off, you're right! He  _ does _ things to me!” 

Reiju couldn't help but laugh again, shaking her head. “You need to calm down, Sanj!” 

Her laugh shot through him like a bullet piercing through his chest, leaving him breathless for a moment.

“You're doing  _ things _ to me too, right now.” Sanji went on, before pouring the hot water into both mugs and setting the empty kettle into the sink way harder than necessary. 

He knew Reiju was just being annoying, but in the back of his head were sneers and jeers by features that resembled hers - and  _ his _ , for the matter. Faces twisting in disgust as they gazed upon him, mouths spewing hatred as they opened, fists colliding with his guts as they clenched. 

So much was swirling through his head, fast and overwhelming, he had to hold on to the counter and suck in a shuddering breath to ground himself again. 

“Hey…” Reiju called out softly “Hey, I was just kidding. You know that, right?”

“Yeah…” Sanji said after a few moments of deafening silence. 

He knew. He knew he was overreacting. He wished he could avoid it, just like he wished he could have been less aggressive towards that delivery guy. 

But he had his rights, hadn't he? He kept messing up with the Baratie schedule without even caring about it, and it made his blood boil. 

“I'll stop being a jerk, alright?” Reiju said, and ignored the sarcastic snort coming from her brother when she went on “Tell me what happened? I heard what you told Neve.” 

“It's nothing, forget it.” Sanji said as he straightened back up. 

“C'mon, you can tell me. You sounded upset.” Reiju kept pressing. 

Sanji sighed and pulled another cigarette out of the nearly empty packet, making a mental note to buy a new one first thing in the morning. 

“Apparently he trains at the gym a block away from our restaurant, he came out while I was about to go home.” Sanji explained before he took a deep drag of tobacco “He saw a kid trying to mug me, and just stood there like the imbecile he is. Staring.”

Pure bewilderment painted Reiju's features as she gawked at her brother from underneath pinched together eyebrows. 

“Yeah, he made the same face as you are now.” Sanji said as he grabbed his own mug of tea. 

“It's just--” Reiju's mouth opened and closed a few times before she could actually form a coherent sentence “You nearly got mugged?” 

Sanji nodded and gently blew into the mug. There was no other way to illustrate the entire ordeal to her because it had actually been as bizarre as he'd made it sound, and he still couldn't believe it had happened either. 

“You nearly got mugged?” Reiju repeated. 

“I'm fine, Rei.” Sanji sighed. 

“And the delivery dude was just standing there?” Reiju went on. 

“I thought you'd heard me speak to Neve.” Sanji arched an eyebrow. 

“I thought you were being dramatic! ” Reiju countered. 

Sanji scoffed, rolling his eyes before taking another drag of cigarette and accompanying it with a sip of tea, shortly after. He leaned back against the counter, warm ceramic close to his chest and the hand that held the cigarette up to his lips, only instead of smoking he just picked at his thumbnail with his teeth. 

“I just feel--” Sanji grimaced, looking past Reiju and at a random spot on the wall “Dunno, weird.”

Reiju shifted in her seat, hands using the mug of tea more like a heating pad than an actual beverage “You guys fought again?” 

Sanji shook his head “Not really…” 

That was the point. He'd sort of enjoyed that odd exchange, no matter how annoying the guy had been. It's always weird to meet someone you're used to see in a professional setting, outside in the world. 

“That's good at least…” Reiju let out a relieved sigh, mug finally meeting her lips as she sipped on her tea “I really thought you were gonna break his nose, this morning.”

Sanji let out an amused huff. He had been right all along about Reiju coming out to save the dude's ass, not the other way around. 

“He's a boxer, apparently.” Sanji blurted out before he could even realize. 

“Oh, is he now?” Reiju's lips curled in a small smirk, half hidden by the mug. 

“Why do you look so smug?!” Sanji groaned. 

He could feel his cheekbones pinking up again, a flush that he decided to conceal behind the bottom of his own cup with a large gulp of tea. 

“You guys have some things in common…” Reiju kept teasing. 

Sanji lowered the cup again to shoot his sister a pointed stare. 

“We really don't. He's a goddamn disaster with no respect for other people's work, who punches people in his spare time.” Sanji shook his head, taking in a deep drag of tobacco “What do we got in common?”

Reiju hung her head, letting out a sharp, exasperated breath. Sanji rolled his eyes at that and set on finishing off his cigarette before she could add anything else stupid. 

“You miss it though... Don't you?” Reiju asked, eyes fixing on her brother once again. 

Sanji's face scrunched in confusion at the question “Miss what?” 

“Fighting?” Reiju's eyebrow cocked. 

Sanji's heart skipped a beat, his gaze lowering to the now extremely interesting contents of his mug, shoulders rising and lowering. 

“Nah. I don't.” 

It was a mechanical response, he'd trained himself to say that anytime anyone asked something of the likes. A response he'd trained himself to believe too, so that he actually would convince himself that no, he didn't miss it. 

Not that he had a choice, anyway. His days as a Taekwondoin were over, whether he liked it or not. It was beyond him, no matter how he'd felt when the mosshead had recognized his technique. 

No matter the fluttering of butterfly wings that had just burst in his stomach again, just thinking about that whole moment. 

And suddenly his mind was wandering again, back to the way in which he couldn't stop himself from speaking to the dude and not letting him leave, how the way in which he'd been stared at had set something ablaze inside his chest. 

His heart went crazy once more, hammering against his ribcage at the mere thought of him looking into those umber eyes and seeing something akin to awe twinkle there, when he'd showed off his skills again. 

Hardly anyone looked at him that way, and--

God, what the hell was he thinking? 

Sanji shook his head, as if to erase any of those foolish thoughts seeping into his mind like poison. 

“You alright?” Reiju's voice broke through his inner monolog. 

Sanji looked at her, shame pooling in his stomach as if she'd been able to hear what he'd been thinking about. He wasn't supposed to have any kind of weird thoughts about guys, he wasn't supposed to--

“I don't like him.” Sanji shook his head. 

Reiju blinked at him a few times, bewilderment increasing on her features. 

“Alright?” 

“I'm going to bed.” Sanji grumbled, gulping the rest of his now lukewarm tea, and setting the mug into the sink. “He's probably gonna be late again tomorrow, and I need enough rest to deal with his ass.” 

Reiju's mouth slacked open, at a loss for words. She slowly shook her head, but then nodded. “Uhh… Sure, yeah.” 

Sanji nodded as well and took off in the direction of the kitchen door, walking past the table but freezing when he felt Reiju's hand wrap around his bicep. He let out a shaky breath and looked down at his sister and her serious expression. 

“Just remember I'm not our brothers…” Reiju began, her brow furrowing as she went on “Nor our biological father. I love you, Sanji. You can talk to me about  _ anything _ .”

Sanji's jaw tightened and suddenly it felt like a tennis ball got stuck in his throat, cutting off his air supply and making his eyes sting. 

_ I'm not like you.  _ \- he'd have wanted to say. 

_ I'm not as strong as you are. As confident as you are. _ \- he'd have wished to tell her. 

But all that came out was a strangled “‘Night, Rei.” as he finally exited the kitchen to look for Neve and bring her to bed with him.


	4. Family Rule

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!  
I hope you're all doing good and you're staying safe and healthy during these weird and scary times. Unfortunately inspiration and will to write has been escaping me during this quarantine, that's why it's taken me a while to actually update, but here we are!
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy! xx

There was a howling coming from the depths of the nooks and crannies that the buildings created around the outskirts of the city. 

The wind was blowing icy, harsh and unforgiving. There was the sting of the tiniest of raindrops coming and going, still not settling on whether the sky should cry or just squall. 

The weather was just as confused as Zoro as he jogged his way to the port, mind going a hundred miles per hour while a weird sensation knotted tightly around his stomach.

He hadn't had the chance to speak to Nami about the night before. She had texted him around midnight to let him know that she’d have slept at her mother’s, and he had spent the first hour of lying underneath his blankets tossing and turning, turning and tossing.

What could possibly be gnawing at him so much? 

Just the stupid, insignificant conversation he’d had with the cook?

That was laughable, at best. 

Zoro had wanted to help, but the blond hadn't needed any. He’d been perfectly capable of fending for himself. The talk that had followed bore no significant meaning. Zoro had been foolishly trying to make conversation for only God knows what reason, and the blond clearly hadn’t been interested. 

He couldn’t blame him. He didn’t even know why he’d stayed as long as he had.

Yet his mind just wouldn’t stop clipping along, faster than his legs, curiously wondering about the homeless kid that the cook had fed, about the Taekwondo he wasn’t practicing anymore, about that… Fucking thunderbolt that had zapped right through him when the blond had laughed like _ that _.

“Fuck!” Zoro groaned to himself, screwing his eyes shut for just a moment, praying for his brain to shut up for at least a second.

What would Nami have said about this whole situation, anyway?

Even if Zoro had managed to vent to her about all the weird things that were shooting through his mind, what could she have possibly told him?He just needed to give himself a break, or rather this entire idiotic whirlwind of thoughts needed to die down, just like the gusts of chilled air whipping at his reddened cheeks.

He attempted to stifle his memories from the night before with anything else: how fucking cold it was that morning, how hungry he was for having skipped breakfast like a dumbass, how much he would have wanted to sleep for ten more hours, how many times Luffy must have tried to call that mysterious surgeon of his--

He snorted at the last thought.

Zoro definitely needed to ask Luffy about it. He could only imagine his friend bombarding the guy with texts and probably photos of him pulling the stupidest faces. He imagined the surgeon opening one of these silly pictures while at work, and another snort escaped him.

So maybe it was working, after all.

At least up until he made it to the port and Paulie chucked keys and the usual list of deliveries into Zoro’s gloved hands.

_ Understaffed. We cannot hire more people. We don’t know where Gin is. Iceburg and Franky are working on it. _

He didn’t even have to hear this all over again. Zoro just silently helped out Johnny and Yosaku for a while before it was actually time for him to load the truck and hop on to do this hellish job.

After all, could Zoro truly deny himself all the extra money he was making? 

No. No Posh Bastard could put him off of his new pay, either.

Resolution was definitely a better look on him than bitterness.

He could do this. This time he wasn't going to blast music in the cabin. He wasn't going to mess up the addresses and was going to try and follow the GPS directions the best he could. 

Sure, it sounded easier said than done, but he could try and manage. 

He just needed to focus, and if he looked at it from a different perspective… If he could focus on this task as much as he would usually concentrate on an opponent during a match, maybe he could make this work. 

And so he did. He shed all of his worry and annoyance, and replaced them with determination and combativeness, and went about his assignment. 

Of course his terrible sense of direction didn't make it easier, but he somehow managed to only mess up a couple of times and made it to Baratie with a fifteen minutes delay. Not exactly on time, yes, but definitely much better than the other two times before. 

Sanji was probably going to still be dramatic as hell over those fifteen minutes, but Zoro didn't care. He knew he had done a fairly better job, and he could definitely go back home much earlier to train. The blond held no power over him. 

Zoro sucked in a deep breath, soothing his nerves after the near crash he had avoided to get to Baratie as fast as he could, slipped the keys out of the ignition slot and climbed out of the truck.

“Wow, only fifteen minutes, today.” 

Were the words he was instantly met with, but Zoro furrowed his eyebrows when instead of Sanji he found a much older, way larger man than the cook to tower over him. Zoro's eyes instinctively widened, the man's weathered features looking definitely more threatening than Sanji's, and for some reason the sudden sight made him nearly shrink back against the cabin’s door. 

He didn't, thankfully. That would have been way too embarrassing. Yet there was a bitter taste laying on Zoro's tongue, an odd feeling that didn't sit quite right with him. 

“Yeah, I--” Zoro furrowed his eyebrows, feeling vaguely threatened by the severity of the man's gaze. 

“Good. Get my fish out of this truck, would you?” the man went on speaking before Zoro could finish his phrase.

“Yes, sir,” Zoro muttered, then watched as the usual other cooks pooled outside the restaurant to help him unload the cargo. 

Zoro's confusion permeated him, lingering there underneath the surface while he went through the motions, picking up crates and piling them up for the kitchen staff to take away, and catching himself looking at the windows of the restaurant. 

The blond was nowhere to be seen. 

There were other people working around the reception, the lounge bar he could barely make out through the engravings on the glass. Something odd and unpleasant curled inside of Zoro's stomach, and he couldn't understand why he wasn't just… Relieved?

“Can you--” A voice breached through Zoro's musings. 

He scowled down at the man who was staring at him from above his sunglasses, no matter the sun being feebler than ever. 

Why was everyone so adamant in wearing shades when there was barely any sunshine at this time of the morning? 

“Leave the crate to me, dude,” the man went on, and Zoro finally realized he had been holding on to the crate. 

“Oh…” he finally left the crate to the man, but then called out to him again. “Oi!” 

The man arched an eyebrow at that. “Huh?” 

Zoro's jaw clenched for a moment. He really could have been on his way and went on with the rest of his day in peace, but apparently he wasn't able to do that. 

“Where's the other chef, uhh…” Zoro pretended to think way harder than he needed to recall his name. “Sanji?” 

The cook snorted and shrugged his shoulders. "Fuck if I know. He hasn't shown up today." 

Zoro's puzzlement only increased at such an answer. If Zoro's head could have simply gone to Sanji being on his day off, now it was back to running wild to try and find another answer to that question. 

He only grunted in response to the man, then tried to go back to his job without asking any more questions, all the while feeling the big dude's piercing gaze burn a hole through him as he tugged on his blond mustache. 

Once he was finished, he grabbed the clipboard with the document that the man was supposed to sign, and walked up to him. 

“Could you please sign this?” Zoro grumbled out, then added, “Sir?” 

The man all but laughed at that and Zoro's cheeks instantly went ablaze. He was making a fool out of himself and he didn't even know why, but there he was now with no escape.

“Gimme that,” the man said while he took the clipboard and pen from Zoro and busied himself with signing the delivery note. 

Instead of just waiting around to get the documents back right away, as his embarrassment made him grow restless, Zoro decided to go around the truck again and lock up the back, since he'd left it open, but dropped the keys as he fumbled with his thick work gloves. 

“Fuckin' hell…” he grumbled, and just when he was about to pick them back up, another hand reached for them. 

“You actually made it nearly on time, or am I hallucinating?” 

Now, that voice he knew. 

Zoro looked at the person crouching besides him and met the most unnerving smirk he knew, blond bangs flopped over his right eye and all. 

“Can't say the same for you,” Zoro muttered as he took the keys perhaps a little too harshly from Sanji's hand. 

“He overslept, so I drove him over.”

Another voice he knew. Sanji rolled his eyes as he stood back up, and once Zoro straightened back up as well he saw Sanji's sister smile at him. 

“Anyone can be late, at times,” the girl went on as she side-eyed her brother. 

“Gimme a break, Rei.” Sanji scoffed. “I'd have made it earlier than him.”

“Except you didn't.” Zoro shrugged with a tiny, victorious smirk.

He folded his arms across his chest, ignoring the rippling right beneath his ribcage. Ignoring the sense of relief that had clearly washed over him now that the annoying blond was there, too. 

“I signed this thing half an hour ago. Can you take it back?” 

Sanji and his sister exchanged a look, then Zoro realized he'd never gone back for the clipboard and let out a small groan. 

“Yeah, comin’. Sorry!” Zoro said as he walked back to the man. 

“Oh, look who decided to show up,” the man said as he glanced past Zoro. 

Furrowing his eyebrows, Zoro looked over his shoulder to see Sanji approaching from behind him, rolling his eyes at the man's words. 

“I know, I know, shitty geezer. I slept through my alarm,” Sanji replied. 

Zoro looked at him and the sheepish expression on his face. He wasn't looking at the man as he spoke but he did light up a cigarette. 

“You’re only working the lunch shift today. Don’t mess up,” the man told Sanji, a finger pointed in the blond’s direction.

As if Zoro didn’t feel completely out of place enough in that moment, now he was feeling like he was witnessing something he shouldn’t have. It was awfully reminiscent of those embarrassing moments when as a kid you’d go to your friend’s house and their mother would chew them out right in front of you.

“You know I won’t,” Sanji muttered.

The man fixed Sanji with one last severe look, then nodded at Zoro as a departing gesture before disappearing inside the restaurant.

Sanji followed the man with his gaze, then went back to stare down at the concrete of the sidewalk, cigarette between his index and middle finger as he took a deep drag of smoke. Of course, it mustn’t have been fun to be sort of called out in front of other people, especially somebody you don’t particularly like.

Zoro took that as his cue to leave. His job was done. He had his signed delivery note, and for the first time in two days he wasn’t getting his head bitten off by the now oddly quiet blond. He turned around to do just that, pulling the cabin’s door open in order to throw the clipboard on the passenger’s seat and climb behind the wheel, when the girl's voice broke the silence again. 

“Hey, are you hungry?” 

“Rei!” Sanji exclaimed. 

Zoro froze with one foot still on the cabin step at those words. He slowly twisted his torso until he was facing both siblings, a confused scowl wrinkling his features. Was it a blush that was creeping up to Sanji's face from underneath the scarf wrapped around his neck? 

“Uhh… No, I'm fine,” Zoro grumbled in reply, shaking his head slightly.

Yet his traitorous stomach growled. It growled at the mere mention of food, at the idea of it, sounding like a goddamn kraken ready to wrap its tentacles around an entire fleet.

Shit.

“Your stomach says otherwise!” Reiju smirked.

“C'mon, I'll make you something to eat,” Sanji muttered as he shook his head. 

He extinguished the cigarette on the standing ashtray by the door of the restaurant and slipped the scarf off of his neck as he stepped inside the restaurant. 

Zoro hesitated. There wasn’t a universe in which this would have been a good idea, especially since he should have driven back to the Galley-La to return the truck and get his pay for the day. He was nearly about to open his mouth to decline the invitation and leave like he was supposed to, but Sanji's sister placed a hand between his shoulder blades and gently pushed him forward. 

“Nobody leaves Baratie on an empty stomach. It’s a family rule. Don't worry about it,” the girl reassured him with a wink. 

Even if he wanted to escape this situation, it would have been impolite to do so now. No matter how strange it felt for him to just be invited to eat inside this restaurant, no matter how weird it felt that Sanji was just being somewhat nice.

Or maybe it was just a family rule, like Sanji’s sister had said, and he didn’t need to wrack his brain over it too much.

“I just don’t wanna get back too late, you know,” Zoro tried to argue.

“Oh, it’ll take a couple minutes. Don’t worry!” The girl nodded. “Just say you were late today, too.”

Zoro shot her a horrified glance. She had a point, but damn, this girl was a savage. She reminded him way too much of Nami, with those killer jabs… Those two would have definitely gotten along well.

“Guess you’re right…” Zoro muttered, and the girl gave a small chuckle.

By this point he had no choice but to follow her inside. 

A small, content sigh of relief left his lips once the front door of Baratie had been shut behind him. The restaurant was so comfortably warm compared to how cold it was outside. Not to mention how beautiful and luxurious the place looked on the inside. Zoro was no expert on luxury and Nami always remarked upon his bad taste or complete lack thereof, but this restaurant was probably the fanciest place he’d ever been in.

The marble floors were quite the contrast with the warm light shining from the lavish, crystal chandelier that hung in the center of the reception. Zoro suddenly felt so uncomfortably out of place that he froze in his tracks as he stared at the engraving of the word BARATIE with a helm in the center as a background, across the mahogany front of the reception desk. 

“Oh! Hello, there!” 

A feminine voice shook him back from his musings, a voice that reminded him of Sanji's sister, but coming from behind the desk. Zoro's eyes snapped up to meet a single blue eye, the other covered by long, blond hair, the woman - bearing a striking resemblance to both Sanji and his sister - smiled excitedly as if Zoro's arrival had single-handedly made her day. 

Zoro made quick work of tugging off his gloves and shoving them into the back pocket of his jeans, then yanked off his beanie and ruffled his green hair to try and look slightly more presentable. 

“Uhh… ‘Morning!” Zoro raised his left hand in greeting. 

Right when Zoro thought that Sanji was nowhere to be found again, he resurfaced from a door placed a few feet to the left of the reception, in his full chef uniform. He looked over at Zoro and a tiny smirk spread across his lips.

“Nice hairdo!” Sanji chuckled. 

Zoro stupidly tried to look up at his hair, then tried to comb through it with his fingers again. 

“It's the damn beanie…” Zoro grumbled. 

“Leave him alone, Sanji!” The older woman sighed, then stepped out from behind the counter to offer her hand to Zoro in greeting. “I'm Sora! Sanji and Reiju's mother.” 

Reiju had mentioned it was a family rule to not let people leave Baratie on an empty stomach, so it was only obvious that this would have been a family run business. Now that Zoro thought back about the way in which the older man from earlier had spoken to Sanji, it kind of made sense to assume he was his father.

How rich were these people, anyway?!

Holy shit!

Zoro took Sora's hand in his and gently shook it. “I'm Zoro. The dude that always brings the fish in late.” 

He didn’t exactly think of himself as a funny guy, but since this had quickly become the family’s favorite running gag, why shouldn’t he indulge in its use as well?

And it apparently worked, too! Since Sora and Reiju had started laughing and Sanji… Well, Sanji did roll his eyes and shook his head, but Zoro caught a glimpse of what he really thought was a smile, before placing a hand on his mother’s shoulder.

“The shitty delivery guy’s hungry. I’ll be right back, alright?” Sanji said before he turned on his heels to head over to the kitchen door.

“Don’t call him shitty. He’s right here!” Sora chastised him, but got no reply in return.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” Zoro shrugged, though he secretly appreciated his mother calling him out on his rudeness.

Now that was the opposite of being embarrassed while a mother scolded her son, and Zoro had to bite back the smirk that threatened to spread across his lips.

“I’m sorry, Zoro.” Sora shook her head, as if to dismiss her son’s rudeness. “Come on over to a proper table,” Sora said as she slipped out from behind the reception, and beckoned Zoro to follow her. 

Zoro sucked in a deep breath. He didn’t know why but he was feeling almost the same nervousness that usually buzzed through him prior to a match. Still he followed Sora and Reiju to the dining hall, once again silently marveling at the beautiful interior design of the room. It was slightly different from the entrance, with a parquet floor and cream colored granite walls, but yet another great chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling.

Reiju and Sora took a seat each, by one of the half made tables, definitely so that Zoro couldn't ruin any of the perfectly set up ones. He sat across from the women, the black cushion of the chair dipping beneath his weight and making a slight puffing sound that made him even more self-conscious. 

As his anxiousness kept coursing through him, the scenario felt surreal and sort of ominous all of a sudden, as if the smiling and kind looking women sitting by the other side of the table were about to murder him and use his flesh to stock up the pantry. 

He swallowed thickly as that absurd thought twirled in his brain.

“So,” Reiju began. She set her elbows on the table, entwined her fingers and rested her chin over them. “Sanji told me you're one of the boxers from the Colosseum gym…” 

Zoro's eyebrows drew together, his head tilting slightly as if he was sort of debating whether he'd actually heard her correctly or not. Reiju was watching him expectantly, her smile faltering slightly at the hesitation he was showing.

Sanji was talking about him with his sister. Of course it was probably to bitch about him, just like he did with Nami himself, but for some reason the fact that she knew he was a boxer because Sanji had told her… It somehow sat differently with him. 

Zoro sucked in a quick breath. He knew he was taking too long to reply. He didn't want to be considered as more of a weirdo than he already could have been. 

“Yeah, I-- I'm a boxer. Got a license and all…” Zoro explained briefly, fingers gliding across the immaculate tablecloth as he stared down at it. 

“Oh!” Sora exclaimed, leaning slightly forward in curiosity. “So you're a professional?” 

Zoro's lips twitched. If he actually were a pro he most definitely wouldn't have had to bump into her unnerving son to begin with. His left hand moved up to rub at his brow, slightly shaking his head. 

“No, not yet, but I'm trying to become one,” Zoro offered her a small smile. 

There was a weird feeling curling in his stomach. He wasn’t normally used to telling people about his hopes and dreams, especially his biggest one. It was something usually reserved to his friends, the people closest to him. He never really talked about his boxing career with anyone else. Especially not with Galley-La clients.

“He wouldn't be delivering you guys fish if he was one, Mom,” Reiju added with a laugh, and Zoro raised his eyebrows in surprise. 

Sora laughed herself and placed a hand over her forehead. “I'm sorry, you're right. I don't know where my head is at, sometimes.” 

“Oh, it's alright.” Zoro waved a hand, unable to keep a small smile from curling his lips. 

These women were actually really nice. Reiju seemed to be funny, too. Zoro had to wonder if maybe it was just the men in the family that were dicks, as his eyes wandered in the direction of the kitchen at the exact same moment in which Sanji stepped out with a steaming plate in his hand. 

Zoro's head quickly turned back to face Reiju. He had really hoped her brother wasn't going to take so little… Now he had to face all three together at the same time. 

Delightful. 

“So you do club fights?” Reiju went on asking as soon as their eyes met again. 

“Mostly, yeah.” Zoro shrugged a shoulder, shifting in his seat. “There's a tournament down at the Colosseum in a few days.” 

“Are you gonna compete in it?” Reiju gasped, sounding and looking way too excited about it. 

“Yeah…” Zoro furrowed his eyebrows, taken aback by her reaction.

“We should totally come see you!” Reiju raised her eyebrows, a huge grin spreading across her lips. 

“W-what? N-no, it's--” Zoro's eyes widened comically, his voice coming out way weaker than he intended to. 

Reiju looked past him, and it was obvious that Sanji had finally reached the table. Zoro didn't even need to look to be sure. 

“Sanji!” Reiju began. 

“There you go, mosshead,” Sanji muttered as he was about to place the dish in front of him, turning to his sister as he did so. “Huh?” 

“Zoro has a boxing tournament in a few days. I told him we're going to see him!” 

“What?!” Sanji said as he all but dropped the plate a couple inches before it could safely land on the table, startling Zoro. 

“That’s a really cool idea!" Sora said as she placed a hand on her daughter's arm, then looked up at her son. “It would be so lovely if you went to cheer him on!”

“There's no need! Don't worry about--” Zoro said, raising both hands. This situation was taking the weirdest turn and he felt the need to flee.

“Reiju, I don't think--” Sanji stammered out as he tried to put back on the plate the portion of the omelette that had accidentally slipped out with a fork. 

Zoro hurriedly tried to do the same with the knife, their hands brushing together in the process like in one of those embarrassing cliché movie scenes, as an equally embarrassing flutter churned in the pit of his stomach. He glanced up at Sanji and the flush that had crept up his neck and spread across his cheeks as he tried not to look at Zoro directly in the eyes before leaving the fork on the plate. 

“When's the tournament, exactly?” Sora asked, her voice cutting through that brief but ridiculously intense moment between Zoro and Sanji, as if the room wasn’t filled with tension. 

Zoro knew he was probably blushing as well. He could tell by how insanely hot his entire face felt, and he didn't have the courage to look back up at the woman, so he busied himself with cutting up the omelette and stuffing his face with it.

“Next week, on Saturday…” Zoro muttered around a mouthful of egg, cheese and ham. 

And by God, it was the most delicious mouthful of egg, cheese and ham that had ever laid on top of his tongue. He had to scowl down at the food as if he couldn't believe his taste buds while he chewed, covering up the beginning of a moan of appreciation with a cough.

That omelette was incredible. So incredible that he had to frown up at the cook with the same intensity he’d used to stare down at the plate. 

“What?” Sanji deadpanned. 

“Nothing,” Zoro grumbled, going back to eat. 

There was no way he was going to give the blond the satisfaction of praising or complimenting his cooking in any way, no matter how much he deserved it, even if it was probably the best thing he’d ever eaten in his life up until that moment… And it was only a fucking omelette.

“Alright then,” Reiju said as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and rapidly checked something on the screen before standing up. “I gotta run, but it was great to properly meet you, Zoro!” 

Zoro gulped down a not exactly well chewed mouthful in his urge to say something in return, afraid of coming off as impolite in that moment. 

“Y-yeah, y-you too!” Zoro croaked out, his eyes watering as he tried to not choke. 

“See you at the tournament!” Reiju smiled, waving at him before glancing at her mother and brother. “Bye, guys!” 

The ghost of an anxious smile played about Zoro's lips, nervousness looping around his stomach as he was feeling like dying inside. How this entire situation had turned into something wildly different, he had no idea. Zoro looked up at Sanji, shifting his weight from one leg to the other with one hand in his pocket and the other up to his mouth as he nibbled on his thumbnail, probably aching for a cigarette. 

“Drive safe, Rei!” Sora's voice brought Zoro back to reality, her gentle blue eyes returning to him. “How do you like your food?” 

Zoro's eyebrows rose up to his hairline, his gaze dropping to the plate. He didn't want to voice what he really thought about the food. If Sanji wasn't an arrogant prick he might have, but the rope of nerves knotting around his stomach only tightened when his gaze fluttered to Sanji and he found him biting on his ridiculously plush lower lip as he waited for the verdict.

Weird. He hadn't really noticed how pink and plump his lips looked between their ridiculous frame of mustache and goatee, up until that moment. 

“Oh, it's… Really good,” Zoro replied almost in a grumble, avoiding any sort of eye contact with the blond. 

God, was his face heating up again? If Sanji needed an extra stove to fry more eggs on, he could have just cracked a few on his forehead.

Sora smiled fondly, her lips parting as she began to open her mouth to speak, but suddenly there was a small thud and the table shifted aside. Zoro and Sora exchanged a confused look, then he looked up at Sanji's saucer wide eyes and beet red face. 

“S-sorry, I--” His voice broke and he waved his hand dismissively. “I was-- Deep in thought and I-- lost my balance for a moment.” 

Zoro's eyebrows drew together impossibly close at that weird excuse. He couldn't help but wonder what the hell was up with the Posh Bastard that day. He was acting weirder than the night before. 

“You really need some rest, sweetie…” Sora blinked up at her son, and Sanji rolled his eyes. 

“Sora! Can you come help me with this shitty computer?” the voice of the man that Zoro presumed to be Sanji's father suddenly resounded from the reception. 

“Yes, Zeff, I'm coming!” Sora stood up while she spoke, then looked over at Zoro. “I'll see you later, honey.”

He would have wanted to cling to her, beg her not to leave him alone with her son, but Zoro could only offer her a feeble smile and a polite nod before going back to finish off this damn omelette that was taking him forever and a lifetime to finish. 

An embarrassing silence settled over the two guys. They could still hear Zeff and Sora speaking from the other room, but other than that the sound of sterling silver against ceramic was the only one to be heard from the table. It was clear that Sanji was only hovering close to the table like the restless soul of a drowned child out of politeness, and Zoro was trying to gorge down his food as fast as he could to break out of this nightmare. 

“You don't--” Zoro began, after he had finally finished his breakfast. He put down the cutlery and cleared his throat to buy himself some extra time to form a coherent sentence. 

When he lifted his gaze again, Sanji was staring at him with his thumbnail back between his teeth and a cocked eyebrow, waiting for him to go on. 

“You don't have to come to the tournament, if you don't wanna.” Zoro managed to finally let out a coherent sentence. 

It was starting to feel uncomfortable to sit while Sanji was standing. He didn't like the way he was towering over him, so he pushed the chair back, making a horrifying screeching sound, and finally stood up as well. Sanji's gaze went to the parquet, and Zoro's heart stopped for a moment, fearing he might have ruined it by dragging the chair, but it seemed pretty much intact to him. 

“No, I'll come,” Sanji said suddenly, making Zoro's head snap back up to look at him. “Reiju's pretty set on it, too.” 

Zoro's heart skipped a beat. Or maybe three. He couldn't tell. He wasn't counting. His eyebrows knitted together in puzzlement. He was offering Sanji a way out but he wasn't taking it. 

“You sure?” Zoro almost grumbled, more to himself than Sanji. 

“Yeah, I told you. I'm sure,” Sanji repeated, a tinge of annoyance in his tone of voice, but the way in which he was avoiding eye contact betrayed his confidence. 

Zoro shoved his hands into the pockets of his anorak, eyes going to the worn out tips of his boots, and shrugged. “Alright…” 

“Besides,” Sanji started, probably pausing for effect as he went to collect the dirty dish and cutlery. “I gotta see how shit you are at boxing.” 

Zoro's eyes widened from underneath furrowed eyebrows, his jaw tightening and his nostrils flaring. “I'll show you who's shit!” 

“Oh yeah, you will.” Sanji finally looked at him, an unnerving smirk curving his lips. 

Once again, the blond proved to be the most insufferable human being on the entire planet. Zoro only grunted in response to his provocation and decided this was neither the time nor place to start arguing with him again. 

“Whatever. I gotta get the truck back,” Zoro muttered. 

“And I gotta work. Can't be your nanny anymore,” Sanji said as he gestured in the direction of the kitchen. 

Zoro only rolled his eyes, still not picking up on the incitement. “Fuck off.” 

“You too, please.” Sanji's smirk grew into a full grin. 

Zoro shook his head and slipped his beanie back over his tousled hair, took the gloves from out of the back pocket of his jeans and tapped them a couple times on the palm of his right hand, thinking, hesitating. 

“Thanks for the food, by the way,” Zoro finally said, raising his eyes back to meet Sanji's. 

The smugness slipped from his expression, lips parting and closing a couple of times before he cleared his throat and nodded. “Sure.” 

A small smile curled Zoro's lips. He brought the gloves to his forehead and saluted Sanji with them, then finally walked out of the dining hall. He looked at Sora and Zeff working on the computer at the reception and stopped in his tracks, unsure of what would have been the most appropriate way to say goodbye as he took his leave. 

Luckily for him, Sora lifted her head and saw him standing awkwardly there, so she offered him a bright smile and a wave of her hand. “Bye, Zoro. See you tomorrow?”

“If they don't fire me, sure.” Zoro nodded, raising a hand, eliciting a chuckle from the woman. 

“Be on time,” Zeff grunted.

“I'll do my best, sir.” Zoro sighed, then finally left the restaurant and practically leaped into the truck. 

Once he had shut the door and set the GPS on the course back to the port, Zoro grabbed onto the wheel and blankly stared ahead. 

“What the fuck just happened?” Zoro grumbled to himself, then dropped his forehead against the wheel in despair. 

  
  
  


  
  
Zoro sort of fluctuated back home, once he’d returned the truck to Paulie and collected his money, his brain still processing the weird last couple hours he’d lived while his legs numbly took him through almost all the exact turns to make it back to the apartment.

In the span of a couple hours Zoro had met Sanji’s entire family, the blond had made him breakfast, he’d spoken about his dream of becoming a professional boxer with Sanji’s mother and sister, and last but absolutely not least, he randomly earned two new supporters for the tournament. 

In what universe did that happen?  
  
How had things flipped to the point of having Sanji and Reiju come see him fight in ten days?

What in the hell was going on?

But most importantly… _ Where the fuck was he going? _

Zoro stopped in his tracks to take a look around and was quite impressed to realize that his apartment was actually just around the corner from where he was standing, instead of having ended up on the other side of town. 

Yeah, strange things were definitely happening.

He managed to keep his mind quiet for how long it took him to make it to the building and up to the fifth floor, where his and Nami’s apartment was. Once he slipped past the elevator doors, he heard barking coming from the general direction of the brothers’ house, but as he got closer and closer to the door, the more he realized the barking wasn’t coming from inside _ their _ apartment.

Zoro fished his keys from the inner pocket of his anorak, but right when he was about to slide the apartment key inside the slot, the door opened to reveal Luffy with his arms raised as he yelled, “Hello, Zoro!”

In addition to his loudness, before Zoro could do or say anything, a huge Bernese mountain dog launched himself at him, successfully tackling him and covering him in slobber as he licked his face clean with his giant tongue.

“Chopper! Chopper, leave Uncle Zoro alone!” Zoro heard Luffy call out to the dog, but instead of sounding assertive in his commands he was just laughing his ass off.

Zoro didn’t actually mind. He was laughing as well as he tried to cover his face with one hand and push the dog’s enormous head away with the other. It had been a couple days since Zoro had seen Chopper, and even if the dog was Luffy’s, it had a soft spot for Zoro, and the feeling was mutual.

Once the dog was satisfied with his cleaning job on Zoro’s face, Zoro managed to sit up and eventually stand, all the while petting the giant pooch who couldn’t help how excited he was to see him. Definitely a nice change from the way Zoro was usually welcomed at Baratie.

“Are you done making out with the dog?” Ace smirked from where he was sitting on the couch, with Sabo and Koala next to him.

“At times, I think Chopper loves him more than me!” Luffy chuckled as he patted the dog’s back.

“Gang’s all here, huh?” Zoro said as he rubbed at his lips and face with the sleeve of his anorak, before shrugging it off.

“Hey, Zoro! It’s been a while!” Koala smiled.

“Yeah, how are you?” Zoro asked as he went back to pet the still way too excited dog who kept nosing at his hands.

“I’m great, thank you! How about you?” 

Nami walked out of the kitchen with a tray full of different cans of soda and beer and six glasses filled with ice cubes, and cracked Zoro a smirk. “Oh, hey, stranger! Long time no see!”

“You’re the one who didn’t come home last night!” Zoro retorted with a scoff.

“Let me help, Nami!” Luffy said as he went to grab a couple glasses and handed one to Koala and one to Sabo.

“Ooh! You had a hot date, Nams?” Ace asked as he grabbed another glass from the tray.

“Yeah, right.” Zoro snorted.

“Hey!” Nami glared at Zoro, before looking back at Sabo. “No, I was just at Mom’s.”

“You need to find yourself a hot sugar mommy, Nams,” Ace continued as he poured himself some beer.

“I’m not you, Ace.” Nami scoffed as she set the tray onto the coffee table, and everyone in the room laughed. 

“You’re telling me you wouldn’t want a hot rich girl to buy you stuff just because you sleep with her?” Ace arched an eyebrow.

“Holy shit, guys. Can we talk about something else?” Zoro groaned as he walked to the coffee table to grab a beer for himself.

“Of course I'd like to!” Nami said as she handed Luffy a can of root beer.

“Then why are you saying that you're not me?” Ace scoffed. 

Zoro rolled his eyes, taking a large gulp of beer and exchanging a look with Luffy, who shrugged his shoulders in response. 

“'Cause I'm not like you!” Nami insisted. 

“Alright, alright… Jeez.” Ace rolled his eyes as he took a big gulp of beer.

“So Zoro, how was your morning?” Luffy asked as he sat on the floor, and Chopper went to curl up next to him, putting his head in his lap.

Bless him for making the effort of redirecting the otherwise embarrassing conversation to something else, but at the same time he didn't know whether he was ready to tell everything to all of them. He'd really hoped he would get to talk to Nami alone first. They were most likely going to roast him as usual and he wasn't looking forward to that. 

“Uhh… It's been alright,” Zoro said with a shrug as he moved to sit on the floor next to Chopper. 

“Are you still doing deliveries?” Sabo asked. 

“Yep.” Zoro nodded before taking another sip of beer. 

“Is everything alright, man?” Sabo arched an eyebrow. 

“What about the handsome guy from that restaurant?” Ace asked before Zoro could even think about something to tell Sabo in response. 

“Ace…” Zoro sighed in exasperation. 

“Did he insult you again?” Luffy quipped with a smile. 

Great! Now even Luffy had turned against him! 

“Yeah, he did,” Zoro admitted as he stared down at the beer can, eyebrows raising for emphasis. 

“Oh my God, did something else happen?” Nami asked as she grabbed a root beer for herself and moved to sit down on the armrest of the couch next to Koala. “Spill the tea, sis!” 

Zoro glared at her. “There's no _tea_ to spill.” 

“C'mon~!” Nami insisted, batting her eyelashes at him. As if that had ever worked on him.

“Yeah, Zoro, we all wanna know!” Luffy insisted. 

“Koala doesn't. Right?” Zoro arched an eyebrow at the girl.

“I'm kinda thirsty, actually!” Koala smirked, then she and Nami proceeded to clink their glasses together and laugh. 

He didn't have much of a choice it seemed, so he might as well _ spill the tea _like they all wanted and get this over with. After all, everyone in that living room was going to come cheer for him at the tournament and it would have been much easier if they were all up to date with whatever was going on.

“We actually met last night after I left the gym. I was there until eleven, I think…” Zoro began, but Nami cut him off right away. 

“Wait, what?! And you didn't tell me?!” Nami practically shrieked. 

“You weren't home!” Zoro growled back. 

“Ugh, shit!” Nami groaned, dramatically throwing her head back. 

“Well, anyway… He was coming out of the restaurant and the craziest thing happens.” Zoro resumed speaking, and everyone was already enraptured by his words. 

“I see this dude lurking from around a corner, sketchy looking dude. He comes out of the corner and he's clearly about to mug the cook, right?” 

“Oh God!” Koala gasped, and it somewhat fueled Zoro's recount. 

“Uh-huh! So I'm like… Well, fuck, now I gotta save this asshole's ass!” Zoro went on, nearly spilling beer as he flailed his arms. 

“Did you kick the thief’s ass and the cook fell into your arms and kissed you?” Ace teased with a grin.

“Yes, Ace, obviously…” Zoro rolled his eyes, ignoring everyone's chuckling. “It was the cook who kicked the guy’s ass, got his wallet back and then let the little thief go.” 

“What?!” was pretty much what nearly everyone exclaimed at the same time. 

“Yeah.” Zoro paused to take a sip of beer. “He let him go cause he apparently was a homeless kid the cook fed once." 

“Aw, that’s actually so sweet…” Koala said as she put a hand over her chest. 

“So he's not a complete asshole...” Nami quipped in. 

“Apparently…” Zoro shrugged and took another swig of beer. 

His heart was starting to race in his chest all over again as he recalled everything from the night before, so he finished off the rest of his drink to take another one from the coffee table right away. 

“The craziest thing is… We spoke after the whole mugging gone wrong thing and it was actually kinda nice. I mean, he still acted like a bitch but--” Zoro didn't know what else to say. 

He didn't know because he was still as confused as ever. He didn't know what else to say because he still could feel his face warming up at the thought of Sanji laughing, of Sanji showing off his fighting skills, of Sanji feeding random homeless kids. 

“Zoro, are you… Blushing?” Sabo asked. 

“What the fuck are you talking about? I'm not,” Zoro grunted.

“Oh, you totally are… Man, you're in trouble!” Ace teased with a laugh. 

“Leave him be, guys!” Koala shut them up with a deadly glare. 

“So what happened today?” Nami asked, practically vibrating in anticipation. 

“We, uh…” Zoro scratched the back of his neck. “Well, basically I got invited into the restaurant. He made me an omelette, I met his fucking _ family, _ and his sister decided that the two of them will come see me at the tournament.” 

The room went dead silent afterwards, and Zoro panted softly because everything he'd said, he'd said it all in one breath. 

“No offense, but… What the fuck?” Sabo asked, furrowing his eyebrows. 

“Trust me, I'm wondering the same thing.” Zoro raised his eyebrows and nodded. 

“There's so much to unpack, I just--” Nami said as she massaged her temples. 

“We both got a date, then!” Luffy suddenly jumped in. “Marco's friend called me, because he found out I'm a dog trainer and he needs help with his undisciplined dog!” 

“I don't have-- And that's not--” Zoro grimaced, feeling like his brain was on the verge of melting. 

“Luffy, that's _ not _ a date!” Ace groaned. 

“I can still make it into one!” Luffy said as he wriggled his brows. 

Zoro stood up and left the second half drank beer onto the coffee table, catching everyone's attention even if he didn't mean to. He couldn't take the pressure any longer. He really needed to be alone with his thoughts, or at least alone with Nami, because everyone else was just making this into a much more complicated issue than it already was. 

“I'm gonna take a shower. I smell like fucking fish,” Zoro muttered. 

“Oh, yeah! Koala and I were gonna leave for work, anyway!” Sabo said as he too stood up and Koala did the same. 

“Yeah, us too, actually! You gotta walk Chopper, right?” Ace stood up and looked at Luffy. 

“Huh? No…” Luffy blinked, puzzled. 

“Yeah, I really think you gotta,” Ace insisted, walking up to his little brother. 

Zoro watched everyone and immediately felt awful for basically making them leave. He rubbed at his brow wanting to say something to let them stay, but at the same time not actually wanting them to. 

“No, I--” Luffy tried to argue again, but Ace's dirty look apparently did the trick. “Oh, you're right! He's really gotta poop!”

“Yep. Thought so…” Ace said as he helped Luffy up and Chopper stood up himself to merrily follow everyone to the door. 

“Alright guys, we'll see you soon! Bye!” Sabo said cheerfully. 

“Guys, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…” Zoro sighed at last, hanging his head in a mix of shame and defeat. 

“Hey, man, don't worry about it. We really had to leave, anyway,” Sabo said as he placed a hand on Zoro's shoulder, squeezing it lightly. 

Zoro looked him in the eyes and found sincerity there, instead of the hurt he was fearing he might have caused. They were his friends, after all, and even if they liked to make fun of him, they cared about him. 

“Alright…” Zoro sighed. 

“We'll come pick you up later to go to the gym, alright?” Ace asked with a smirk.

“Yeah, sure.” Zoro smirked himself.

Everyone said their goodbyes properly and Nami was the one to close the door behind them when they had finally poured out of the apartment. When the lock clicked shut she twirled on her heels and offered Zoro a soft smile. 

“Wanna talk about it?” 

“Maybe later.” 

“That's fair.” Nami nodded. 

The two stood together in silence for a few moments, looking around the room but still not making the first move to leave and do literally anything else, take their minds off everything for a second. Zoro really wanted to open up again, speak his mind, try to make sense of the mess that was swirling through his brain, but at the same time he hated the vulnerability that came with it.

“You…” Nami started again, and Zoro stiffened. “You like him, don’t you?”

Zoro’s heart dropped to his knees at the question. He hadn't really seen it coming. Nami was usually the one to tell Zoro about the girls she liked, never the other way around. 

“I…” he swallowed thickly, his mouth suddenly feeling dry. “I really gotta shower.”

Nami blinked at him a few times, then sighed and nodded. “You do stink terribly.”

“Thought so.” Zoro nodded himself, then finally disappeared into his room. 

He probably knew the answer to Nami's question but he wasn’t truly ready to say it out loud. He wasn’t even ready to let his brain begin to form the answer as a thought.

He looked at the sack hanging from his ceiling and gave it a mild push, causing it to start swinging gently before throwing a couple fast jabs at it. Then he picked up his pace and increased the strength, trying to envision Sanji's shit-eating grin as he punched and punched and punched, until he was out of breath and wrapped his arms around the sack, breath ragged and knuckles stinging. 

The answer cleared up in his mind when Sanji's malicious grin turned into a gentle smile, his blue eyes soft and glistening. 

He hated to think so, but Ace had probably been right all along.

“Shit…” Zoro growled, leaning his forehead against the torn up leather of the sack. 

He was in trouble, indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you goes to my awesome friend [CharlieNozaki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharlieNozaki/pseuds/CharlieNozaki) for the beautiful illustrations! 🖤


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